Double Trouble Twins
by StarLion
Summary: It all started two days ago, with the twin girls who moved to Twilight Town. Sora finds himself growing attached to one, but is torn as another part wants the other. When the girls go missing, he gets caught up in strange events - some Riku/Sora later on.
1. Roxas

**A/N: **Yup, it's another story from me, even though I've got others still being worked on. The idea demanded working on before I forgot about it.  
In this story, Sora is the resident of Twilight Town, Xion and Kairi are twin sisters, Roxas... well, I won't spoil that bit, and Twilight Town has lost it's perpetual sunset in favour of a normal, proper cycle of day and night. Though that last has nothing to do with anything except that I decided there was going to be proper nights there now.

As usual, I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Right, that's all from me. Get reading, enjoy, and if you like it, review!

* * *

It had begun with them – the twinned girls. You could tell them apart only by their hair, one had hers dark brown, the other's was a raven black. They were identical otherwise, but only until you knew them.  
Sora knew them both. He'd been the one they turned to for a tour of the town two days ago – an unexpected request, but not one he was about to turn down.  
They were Kairi and Xion, moving to Twilight Town from some distant place for the summer vacation, and the new school season coming right after it.  
Sora had noticed slight differences in the girls as he gave them the tour. Kairi was more outspoken but calmer, while the quieter Xion flitted between different emotions almost constantly and was harder to surprise.  
He'd walked them to their new homes and helped them unpack, then as night began to fall he too headed to his home, overlooking The Usual Spot – a place where some of the other kids in town hung out from time to time. He and Riku had their own place, down in the underground tunnels where almost no one ever went.  
Two days ago. That was when it had begun, because no one had seen them since then.  
On the night of that day he'd met them, he'd found he'd started to grow attached to Kairi – but he was torn, Xion had her attractions too.  
He'd not slept well that night, seeming to dream about someone like him, but not him, someone who'd take one of the girls away from him and leave him with the other. The dream-stranger seemed to know everything he did, and be able to do anything he did.  
When he woke up the next morning, the torn feeling was still there, but subtly different, as if there was another person within him. It was an absurd idea, so it had been shoved aside and ignored, and Sora had gone about his life as usual.  
That was yesterday. That was when Riku had mentioned he'd seen Sora giving the twins their tour, and remarked that if no one else did, he'd ask after one of them. Like Sora, Riku also leaned toward Kairi over Xion.  
They'd teased each other over it a bit, but it was good-natured teasing that always existed between close friends.  
Then there was today, when they'd found out the news. Sora lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling as if it would give him the answers.  
No one had seen them even once since that first day. Their home was neat, tidy, and devoid of life. Neither of them were there, nor was there any trace of them leaving. There was a house key for each of them, but both were still inside. The only spare key belonged to the landlord, the one who'd let Seifer in to try and find out what had happened.  
He hadn't found anything, and now Sora was beginning to worry. People didn't just disappear without a trace. Something had happened, but what?  
It troubled him as he lay there until finally Sora fell asleep...

...and Roxas woke up. He looked out through Sora's eyes for a few moments, then felt them become his own.  
Two days ago. He was still just a part of Sora then. But part of Sora had wanted Kairi, and the other part, him, he wanted Xion. The night after they'd met them, Sora had dreamed about him, and the longer he dreamed about him the more complete he became. By morning, Roxas was there, watching, seeing, hearing everything that Sora did from inside Sora's own mind.  
And then last night. When Sora had gone to sleep, he'd subtly nudged Sora's mind aside, taking care not to wake him and for the first time, experienced everything for himself. Sora's body had changed just slightly when he took control. The hair changed style and took on a slightly different colour, and his features were slightly different. Sora's blue eyes still looked back from that face though, the only telling-point that Sora was still there, dozing away unknowingly.  
Unlike Sora, Roxas felt there wasn't any point in burdening himself with petty things like morals or ethics. He also felt he needed his own identity, so had spent the night taking whatever he wanted to create that identity, then carefully prying up a floorboard in Sora's room to hide it in so Sora would never know anything about him – not to mention anyone else. Roxas had the kind of freedom that Sora never would have had. He didn't have to do anything he didn't want to, he could do whatever he wanted, and he took whatever he wanted. He thought of himself as a creature of the night, because that was the only time Sora slept. All Sora needed to do was fall asleep, and he could take over again. He didn't have to give up that control by morning, he could keep it as long as he wanted, but Sora's mind would start to try to wake up not long after sunrise, and it was hard to keep it from actually waking up and realising what was going on. He'd decided to take care not to let that happen, getting back to Sora's room and stashing his own belongings long before Sora woke up.  
Tonight, now tonight was different. Sora had heard about the disappearance of Xion – oh, and Kairi too – and so naturally, Roxas had too. Sora, in his good-natured way, wouldn't get involved in looking for either of them. Not yet, anyway – no, he'd wait until he knew there was something wrong to start getting involved, unless someone asked him sooner, but he and Seifer didn't get along well, so it was unlikely.  
Roxas didn't care for that. He swung himself off Sora's bed, picked out the clothes he'd got himself the night before from the stash and dressed himself. A black jacket without sleeves, with a white one over it that did. Grey pants – mostly grey, anyway – and grey trainers with red straps, instead of the normal laces. Normal was something that happened to other people, he'd already decided. This was _his_ look – no one elses, certainly not Sora's with his ridiculous getup. There was no way he was going to be seen wearing that again, it even made him feel ridiculous just wearing it the night before. He hadn't had any choice then; either wear what Sora had, or go around without anything on... well, he'd entertained the thought briefly, but decided it was probably better if he put up with it while he got his own stuff.  
With a last glance down to the stash, he wondered whether to take one of the five rings he'd stolen the night before, each one with a different design on them. They were where he'd taken his name from. They'd been lined up beside each other in a display, spelling out what would become his name. So similar to Sora's name, just like he was still similar to Sora, but different enough to be distinctive. He didn't even know why he'd taken them after they'd given him his name, they'd just caught his eye... and the next thing he knew, they were pocketed and he was walking away without a care for what he'd just done.  
Why would he care? He had the perfect cover. All he had to do was hide his stuff and let Sora take over come morning. Even if anyone found out about the link between him and Sora, he didn't have to take control. He could sit back and wait for the suspicions to fade, then he'd just carry on where he left off. Let Sora take the blame for things. What did it matter to him?  
Roxas decided not to take one of the rings tonight, checked his reflection in a mirror, then opened the window and dropped down to the alley below that lead to The Usual Spot as Sora knew it. He listened nearby and heard nothing coming from it, so glanced inside. Old furniture, knocked up tables and even an oil drum. Who'd want to meet up here? It was full of junk.  
The night-time streets were quiet, barely anyone around. No one paid much attention to him, he was just another new kid who'd arrived recently. Or whatever else they thought.  
Sora's memory of Xion's house was clear enough that even a blind mouse could have followed it. It was just opposite the place the trams were stored. Not exactly a big or quiet place, but she must have had a reason. Or her sister, but Kairi wasn't his concern. Let Sora deal with her.  
The curtains were drawn over the windows, so there was no telling what was inside from them. He didn't really need to tell, Sora had helped them unpack like the charitable soul he was. Well, if it gave him what he needed to know, it couldn't have been that bad.  
A few glances around told him he was alone. Perfect.  
The door was locked, naturally. It didn't stay that way after he'd given it a good, solid kick. It made a lot of noise, and damaged the door of course, but it got him in, so he slipped in before anyone noticed him.  
Everything was neat and tidy, exactly as it had been when Sora had left. The kitchen looked completely unused, as did the bathroom.  
The beds broke this rule of tidiness. One bedroom, with a bed on either side of the room. He ignored Kairi's, and went straight to Xion's, telling the difference because their names had been carved into the wood at the end of each. Maybe some people had trouble telling them apart despite their clearly different hair or something.  
The beds were a mess, looking more like someone had been dragged out of them while struggling.  
He picked up the covers, tidying them more because he was bored than out of any kindness to the girls. When he came to setting Kairi's straight, he found a note hidden inside it:  
'Seifer:  
Have girls safe at AM. Tell others not to worry. Don't let them find out.  
Setzer.'_  
Too late_, Roxas thought, pocketing the note. He'd keep it with his stash until he got the chance to act on it, probably tomorrow night.  
So, Seifer was in on what had happened. No wonder nothing had been found. Who was Setzer though? Sora didn't seem to know anyone called Setzer.  
Well, no matter. He could draw on what Sora knew and could do. What harm was there in giving him something back? Unaware of it's source, Roxas caused Sora to have a dream where he was outside the twins' house, overhearing Seifer reciting the note. Maybe it would spur Sora's curiosity when he woke up, and get him to go searching for him. Better that Sora waste the time chasing him up than him wasting the valuable hours he now had every night.  
He paused often on his way back out, listening for anyone who might have come running after he'd kicked in the door, but there didn't seem to have been a reaction. Still, better to be cautious, so he surreptitiously looked out of one window to see if there was anyone hiding outside._  
Damn!_  
Seifer was approaching. Clearly someone had gone to tell him. At least he was alone.  
Well, the house was built so he could evade him it seemed. Two rooms at the front on either side of the door. The stairs and a corridor to the kitchen and dining room at the back. There was a door from each front room to the dining room or kitchen behind, and a door between both dining room and kitchen. No matter which way Seifer went, he'd have a way out.  
Roxas hid behind the door from the kitchen down into the corridor, opening it just a crack to see which way Seifer would go.  
He went straight upstairs. Roxas waited until the floor creaked right above him, signalling that Seifer was fully up the stairs, then quickly but quietly made for the door. He kept to the walls once outside, so Seifer wouldn't be able to see him so easily from any windows, upstairs or not.  
He wouldn't find anything there anyway. Just a pair of tidied beds, and no note.  
Maybe Seifer hadn't found the note in his first search. It had been tucked into the covers fairly well. Or maybe Seifer had tucked it there himself, not wanting anyone else to find it.  
It didn't matter much now. He'd know someone had been there, but he'd never be able to find out who. Not once Sora woke up.  
He felt Sora stir slightly, and headed quickly up a different side street to get back sooner. He climbed in the same way he'd left, stashing everything quickly, but neatly under the floorboard, ensuring the floorboard itself didn't look out of place before he settled back in.  
Well, it had been a quick and quiet night. At least he had something to start with now.  
Roxas leaned back on Sora's bed, getting comfortable.  
Not long after, Roxas fell asleep...


	2. Sora

...Sora woke with a start. His dreams had never been that vivid before. Or so clearly related to anything happening.  
Could it just have been a coincidence? Or was it just a result of his worrying about it too much?  
Either way, he decided to act on it. Maybe Seifer had found a note, maybe he could even tell Sora who this Setzer person was.  
Except... if what he dreamt was true and Seifer _had_ found a note, then he wouldn't admit it – least of all to him. It sounded like he was involved in the disappearance of the girls, he'd never let himself get implicated in that.  
It didn't seem like Seifer to get mixed up in that sort of thing though. He was the one who usually tried to stop everyone else getting into trouble.  
Well, that was one sure way to get his attention. He could spring it on him unexpectedly. The question was, what kind of trouble should he get into this time.  
Sora didn't normally go in much for causing trouble, but Riku, as many people tried – and been ignored – to tell him, was a bad influence on him. Riku loved to play tricks, pull pranks and generally cause the kind of trouble that never really did any harm. It was in his nature, and he had a kind of infectious nature. Hang around with him for long enough and you started to pick it up for yourself.  
Sora dressed himself quickly, noting in passing he'd left his window open last night. Or... had he? He hadn't opened it. He'd suspect someone had opened it from the outside to get in, except there was a sheer drop right down to the alley below. A more athletic person than him might have been able to jump and grab hold of the small ledge outside the window, but not open it from there.  
He must have opened it and forgotten about it. It probably didn't matter anyway. Nothing was missing, nothing out of place except the footprint-  
Footprint?  
One footprint on the floor by his bed, or half of one at least. Someone had passed by the sand lot, obviously. A brief glance at his own shoe proved it wasn't him._  
Stop being so cautious, Sora,_ a voice in his mind seemed to tell him. _It's probably nothing._  
He ignored the suggestion. Someone had, somehow, gotten into his room.  
The window was closed almost absently, then he glanced in the mirror, tried to sort out his hair – which settled back into it's natural spikes – then finally headed to find some breakfast.

Riku was already waiting for him in their own Usual Spot in the tunnels. Few people came down into the tunnels anyway, and even if they did, their place was out of the way, and not likely to bother anyone. Much. If they remembered not to step in certain places. Riku had left inconspicuous little traps around the tunnels that would do anything from slapping a 'kick me' note on the victim's back, to flinging a water balloon at them – sometimes filled with paint instead of water. The splashes of colour over the walls were mute testament to Riku's ability to guess where his victims would be, and aim accordingly so they never missed.  
They both protested innocence of course. No one had ever caught either of them setting up any of these traps, and unless you knew what you were looking for, you'd never notice them until you triggered one.  
As Sora turned to look down into the dropped area where they met up, blocked off by gates except for this raised entrance, he quickly threw himself to the floor as a balloon was flung in his direction. There was a splash from one side, and he looked over to see a fresh patch of pale green had flowered on the wall nearby.  
"A little warning would have been nice," he called down to Riku as he dropped himself down to join him.  
"Didn't know you were there. Besides, would have been just as funny if I'd gotten you."  
"Never happening, Riku. I've been around you too much."  
"It shows," he smirked. "What do you think of it?" he asked then, gesturing down to the contraption that had flung the balloon.  
It looked like a miniature catapult, the same kind they'd planted here and there for just the same purpose he'd just used it for. The ones they'd planted weren't as big as this one though, and could be stashed in almost any kind of box to keep them out of sight.  
Seifer had once tried to check every box and crate in the tunnels in an attempt to root them all out. Sora had overheard this in advance and warned Riku. After that, they'd scattered a number of decoys around with nothing in, and altered the existing ones so that if Seifer tried to open them, he'd get a face full of water. After he'd got thoroughly soaked – after only four boxes and two decoys – he'd given up and just warned them that they'd better not get caught setting them.  
"Bigger than the others," Sora noted. "What for?"  
"More power. You saw it just then, that was a massive difference. I could get this to fling one way further."  
"Yeah, but what for? It's not like you're going to be aiming it all the way down one of these tunnels, not when there's still tons of the smaller ones around."  
"I'm not planning on using it in the tunnels. I'm gonna set this one up at one of the entrances and start aiming outside instead."  
"Getting bored with people not triggering them, are we?"  
"Why not? It's not like it's going to hurt anyone."  
"How about taking it to a rooftop and getting people from up there?"  
"Too much trouble," Riku shrugged. "Anyway, rooftops are predictable. People can see you, and after a few shots they'll start to get the idea and figure out where you are."  
"Not if you keep to flat roofs, and move around after each shot," Sora disagreed.  
"What are you up to, Sora?"  
"Oh, nothing," he answered, his grin almost angelic. "Just the usual no-good kind of trouble we're always up to. Anyway, I want to get Seifer's attention."  
"Didn't we agree not to annoy him?"  
"Who said anything about annoying him? I just want to ask him something before he gets a chance to make up some story or excuse."  
"Like what?"  
"Know anyone called Setzer?"  
"I heard Seifer mention the name once, why?"  
"You'll think I've gone crazy if I tell you."  
"You're crazy as it is. I mean, come on – you ignore the good advice of everyone and still hang around me all the time. Even you admit I'm a bad influence."  
"Yeah – but in a good way, and anyhow, it's more fun."  
"Come on, Sora. You can tell me. I promise not to laugh at you."  
"I had a dream last night, clearer than normal. You know the twins' house?"  
"Yeah, you only told me about it like a dozen times already."  
Sora ignored that and continued, "I was outside there, and I could hear Seifer reading something like a letter, and it mentioned the girls getting taken somewhere. It sounded like it was written from Setzer to Seifer."  
"You're right, I think you've lost it."  
"Never had it," Sora answered, unabashed. "I lost it ages ago. Anyway, I want to find out who this Setzer is, in case my dream turns out to be true."  
"It's just a dream, Sora. It's not like you were really there." He gave Sora a sly look and added, "Or were you?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I'm pretty sure I saw you sneaking around last night. You were wearing some different stuff, but I got a good look at your face, it was you alright."  
"Riku, I was asleep for all of last night. I didn't go anywhere."  
"Sure thing, Sora. If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine with me. You know you can tell me anything." His tone suggested he didn't believe Sora.  
"But I didn't..." he trailed off, then shrugged. "Maybe you just need to get your eyes checked. Then you wouldn't need to build something like this just to hit someone."  
"Hey! I can catch anyone with any of my catapults."  
"Oh yeah? Bet you can't get Seifer then!"  
"You're on!"  
Sora filled several balloons with various colours of paint, a few with water, and for variety a handful with flour instead, while Riku adjusted his new catapult, stowing it in a crate that was only just big enough to hold it. The balloons were packed carefully around it so they wouldn't burst early.  
From there, it was a simple matter to haul it up and out into the town to find a good spot to set it up from.  
As they hauled the crate through the town, Hayner accosted them.  
"What are you guys up to this time?"  
"Who says we're up to anything?" Riku answered belligerently. He and Hayner didn't exactly get alone either.  
"What's in the box then?"  
"Mind your own business."  
"C'mon, tell me! You'll tell me, right, Sora?"  
"Would, but I don't know," Sora told him. "All I know is we got asked to take this someplace else."  
"Who by?"  
"Dunno. Didn't give his name. We're just helping out. Nothing wrong with that."  
"Where was he then?"  
"Up by the station," Sora answered. "Maybe he's still there."  
"Yeah, and maybe he'll offer to pay you to take any other crates he's got left," Riku muttered.  
Hayner left them alone after that. Getting paid to do easy work was something any of them would have done.  
They hauled the box up some steep ledges to the rooftops, and set it up just out of sight, using the crate to hide it until they were ready to fire it.  
"That was some quick thinking," Riku murmured.  
"It got rid of him," Sora shrugged. "Besides, maybe now he'll go find Seifer and tell him there's a stranger that doesn't exist in town. You know what Seifer's like with newcomers."  
"Yeah. Play by my rules or play somewhere else. I never cared for that myself."  
"I'd never have guessed," he answered, straight faced. He was watching the streets below, scanning them for any sign of Seifer. Riku would have jumped at any chance to aim for someone new, but Sora had a specific target in mind.  
"Hey, Sora?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Look over behind you – at the twins' house."  
"What about it?"  
"Doesn't it look different to you?"  
"No, why?"  
"The front door, Sora?"  
It looked like it had been kicked in, splintering the wood on one side.  
"Wonder when that happened."  
"Probably last night. Wonder who did it?"  
"Roxas," Sora answered without thinking, or even knowing where it had come from.  
"Who's Roxas?"  
"I dunno. Name just came to me."_  
Moron,_ the voice he'd heard earlier told him. He ignored it again.  
"Hey, look, down there," Riku whispered, quickly moving to the crate.  
"Seifer," Sora confirmed just as quietly, watching the familier figure, flanked by his gang, Fuu, Rai and Vivi, stop not far from the twins' house and discuss something. "Can you get him from here?"  
"Maybe. Load it up for me Sora."  
Sora nodded, opening the crate and picking the first four balloons to hand. The cup of the catapult was just big enough to hold all four.  
One side of the crate was folded down to let the catapult fire properly. The remaining balloons were shifted around it's base, acting as ballast to hold it down.  
Riku sighted along one arm, lips moving soundlessly, then he adjusted the aim of the catapult.  
"Quick," he murmured. "Get down out of sight."  
Sora didn't need telling twice. He peeked up just enough to see their targets as Riku tugged the string that held it back. As soon as their payloads were airbourne, he quickly reassembled the crate and got down out of sight with Sora.  
The four balloons rose up majestically into the air, seeming to hang motionless for a few moments before dropping. Sora watched them fall almost in slow-motion.  
Riku's aim hadn't been off. Rai and Fuu got caught in twinned showers of water, while Vivi was covered in flour. Seifer now sported a new coat of red paint.  
Suppressing their laughing, Sora dropped down to the ground with Riku and made a dash for the tunnels before Seifer found them. They'd go back to retrieve the crate later – after Seifer had gotten over this most recent attack by them.  
When they returned to their usual hideout, they looked at each other for only a few moments, then finally burst out in uncontrollable laughter.


	3. Confrontations

Seifer paid a call on them later that day, without the company of the others. Even though he'd clearly cleaned himself up and found a change of clothes, just the sight of him was enough to set them off into another gale of laughing at him. He weathered this storm calmly, if not with a slightly irritated expression until it finally petered out into the nearly perfectly matching looks on their faces of the almost terminally amused, as if daring him to say anything about the paint.  
There was a long pause before he finally managed to say anything.  
"If I ever find out either of you were behind that..." he left it at that, mostly because both were trying, without much success, to keep from having another outburst at him. Obviously he hadn't found or gone looking for the crate – and probably wouldn't have trusted them enough to open it even if he had.  
Sora finally got himself under control enough to keep from any further laughter, and managed to reply, "Us? Would we ever do anything like that to you?"  
Riku lost it again at this, and Seifer stalked off muttering to himself.  
Riku paused long enough to nudge Sora and get out, "Setzer," reminding him of one of the reasons why they'd done it.  
Sora calmed himself best he could, climbed up and out of their usual area and headed after Seifer, catching him just as he was leaving the tunnels.  
"Seifer," he called. "Wait a moment?" He watched warily. "No tricks," Sora added. "I promise."  
"Fine. What do you want now?"  
"I just wanted to ask you about something I overheard, that's all."  
"Eavesdropping too now?"  
"What? No, it's nothing like that. I just heard someone mention you knew someone called Setzer, but I've never heard of him before, and I-"  
"You wondered who he is?" Seifer finished, looking wary again.  
"Well... yeah."  
"None of your business, that's who."  
"Isn't he a friend of yours then?"  
"I said it's none of your business. Butt out, Sora, or I'll make you butt yourself out."  
Sora took a step back. Seifer was stronger than he was, and they both knew it. Without Riku around to help out, Sora was no match for Seifer.  
He realised Sora had gotten the point and left him with a parting glare, and muttering about paint to himself._  
Coward,_ the voice in his mind accused.  
"Well what am I going to do compared to him?" Sora asked himself, still believing this voice was just a part of his conscious bothering him._  
You could go after him. Teach him not to be such a jerk._  
"Me? Not a chance. And that's how much of a chance I'd have of doing anything to him."  
The voice was silent after that.

Roxas would have muttered to himself in the back of Sora's mind, except Sora would have heard. He was so timid! Of what? Of someone who he could take if he'd just remember he didn't have to fight fairly! He'd just accepted Seifer brushing it off as if that was all he wanted!  
It was ridiculous. Obviously if he wanted to find anything out around here, he was going to have to do it himself. Sora's reaction to even the faint threat Seifer had given him almost made him shove him aside and do it right there and then, but that would have meant Sora found out about him – and having Sora think he was his own conscious was more useful. He could nudge, or at least try to nudge him in the right direction.  
Riku... well, at least Riku was slightly better than Sora, having a clear disregard for the rules. He was still limited by some personal code of what he considered right and wrong, but at least if it came down to it, Roxas could probably count on him to do something useful.  
While he and Sora had their laughs over what they'd done to Seifer and his so-called gang earlier today, Roxas was already busy planning that night's excursion. Sora knew where Seifer lived. It was time he met Sora's not so nice side and learned that he couldn't just bully everyone. And if he couldn't pay a call on Seifer... well, there was always his gang. One way or the other, he'd get what he wanted out of them. _And_ he'd leave a mark this time too.  
Sora was still totally unaware of the passenger in his own mind. Roxas noticed that Sora didn't really use all that much of his mind, leaving plenty of room for him to take residence in when he hadn't taken over. Using Sora's memory for most things meant he used up far less room than Sora did anyway, so there was little chance of Sora finding out about him. For now, anyway._  
It's getting late_, Roxas told Sora, acting as his conscious again. _Shouldn't you be getting home and to sleep already?_  
For once, Sora paid attention to him, and even Riku agreed. They agreed to meet up again as usual the following day, then headed their separate ways to go home again. Interestingly, Sora had no idea where Riku lived. He would have thought being best of friends, they'd both know. Riku certainly knew where Sora lived, but apparently he'd never told or shown Sora his own home.  
Something else to get Sora to do for him. Another time though, it could wait until after tonight's plan.  
Finally, Sora got back home, had his dinner and settled in to sleep. Not long now until he could get on with things.  
He lay there for a long while, wondering about the twins._  
Stop worrying about them, Sora. It's not like you're looking for them at all, right? Leave it to someone who really cares._  
"Like who?" Sora mused, apparently to himself. "I don't know anyone else who'd do anything. I guess Riku might work with me on it if he got worried too."_  
Just drop it already. They'll turn up safely. Just leave it in the hands of others. Go to sleep, Sora. Things will be better in the morning._  
Roxas was starting to get impatient. Sora was just wasting his time by keeping himself up.  
Then there it was, at last Sora was slipping into sleep. Roxas nudged him the last of the way to sleep, then took over. He didn't bother to wait the few moments he had before, where the minute changes took place changing Sora's body to his own, and so he was disoriented for just a few moments after he stood up. It was hard to notice, but he was definitely just a bit taller than Sora, he was sure of that now.  
He dressed quickly, pausing once more at the rings, and taking out only the first of them, the one that bore an ornate 'R' on it, slipping it onto the middle finger of his left hand. The remaining rings would be for future excursions. If he needed them. But given Sora's timidness, his habit to back down whenever anyone threatened him, it looked like if he was going to get any peace, he was going to have to make more excursions just to get people to treat him better.  
As he had the night before, once he'd glanced at his reflection, it was out the window again – and this time, when he got back he wouldn't be so careless as to leave it open for Sora to notice.  
Seifer's house was at the bottom of the winding market street. From here, the quickest route there would be to cross the nearby sand lot again, the opposite of the route he'd taken back the night before.  
He wondered briefly about Riku, who told Sora he'd seen him last night, and wondered if he'd be noticed again tonight. Maybe it would be a good idea to take a different route back tonight – just in case. Best not to raise too many suspicions.  
There was a light on upstairs in Seifer's house, and a silhouette against the drawn curtains matched his profile. It was hard to say what he was doing, but it looked likely that he was alone.  
Roxas didn't bother to change his tactic from the last time he'd broken into a place, and like the door of the twins' house, Seifer's one splintered inwards with a loud crack. The silhouette disappeared from the window quickly.  
He headed upstairs just as quickly, catching Seifer unawares at the top. The stairs turned sharply back behind at the top toward the room Seifer had been in, allowing Roxas to land a sharp blow low on one leg, sending him crashing to the floor.  
Seifer might have been stronger than Sora – and probably Roxas too – but strength wasn't going to count for anything this time.  
Roxas wasted no time at all, rolling Seifer over and pinning him to the floor.  
"Get off me!" he snapped, struggling to get loose from Roxas' grip.  
"Or what? You'll threaten me? Like you do Sora? You can't intimidate me."  
"What's it to you how I treat him?"  
"None of your business," Roxas hissed, echoing his own statement earlier. "Tell me who Setzer is."  
Seifer seemed to realise who was holding him down, or at least who he thought was holding him down.  
"So you do have a backbone, Sora."  
"Guess again, pretty boy," Roxas snapped back with clear contempt in his voice as he called him 'pretty boy'. "The name's Roxas. Get it memorized. Now tell me. Who's Setzer?"  
"How do you know about him?"  
"I read the note he left for you back at the twins' house."  
"What note?" Seifer asked, though his eyes betrayed his knowledge. Roxas let go with his right hand, delivering a blow to the nose, then replacing it before Seifer reacted. He wasn't quick on the uptake, not noticing the lack of a grip on that arm.  
"Don't take me for a fool, Seifer," Roxas told him. "You know about the note, and you know what it said. I took it from the place just before you showed up last night. Now tell me who Setzer is."  
"He's... an acquaintance. That's all."  
"And?"  
"And what?"  
"You knew what was going to happen, didn't you?"  
"No. Not until I read the note."  
"So you do now?" Seifer said nothing. "I asked you a question!" Roxas roared. For all his bravado, Seifer actually flinched back from him as if afraid.  
"He's holding them at- at someplace I don't know. I don't know why. That's all I know, you've seen the note."  
"You know where they are, don't you?"  
"No. I don't. Setzer makes it deliberately cryptic, gambling that I'll understand what he means, and this time I didn't."  
"You better hope you're right, Seifer, otherwise I'll be coming back to have another... talk with you. And if I find out that you've been any further involved with those two girls that went missing..." He drew his other hand up and back, then almost punched Seifer with it, stopping just short. The ring was just touching his nose. "If I found out," he repeated, "You'd be left with a mark from it. Understand?"  
Seifer nodded, then made a grab for Roxas' throat with the now free hand, but Roxas was ready for it and caught it before it connected.  
"Don't even think about threatening Sora again," Roxas added. "I'm watching you, Seifer. Don't get out of line."  
He held Seifer down for a few moments more, then let go of his arms, quickly getting to his feet and vaulting back down onto the stairs, heading back out into the streets and being thankful that, for now at least, no one had paid any attention to the sound of him kicking the door in. Did no one notice these things around here?  
Well, so long as it continued to work in his favour...  
Roxas turned up market street as he left, instead of heading back over to Sora's room. He still had the rest of the night, he wasn't going to waste it. Besides, Seifer hadn't come after him. At least not yet, the pessimist in him added.  
The downside to being a night-lifer like him was that Twilight Town had little to interest such people. Sensible people were sleeping around now.  
He wandered the streets fairly aimlessly for a time, often pausing at the displays of closed stores for anything that caught his eye. He didn't steal anything this time though. There was no need. He had everything he wanted for now.  
There was still plenty of Twilight Town left to see though, and most of the night left to go. Exploring the place might turn up something interesting – maybe even this mysterious Setzer.


	4. The Mansion

Roxas ended up on the top of the clock tower feeling distinctly dissatisfied with his home town. Unless he wanted to kick Sora out of control during the day too, there was next to nothing for him to do.  
At least up here, he had a commanding view of his town. After his talk with Seifer earlier, that much was certain – Seifer might have bullied people into his idea of order, but Roxas could bully Seifer, and that meant the town was his.  
There were no trams that ran at night, so he'd been forced to walk around the town, and his legs ached somewhat from all the walking. In future though, he'd know where everything was and where he wanted to go, and observing the town from above gave him the perfect opportunity to understand how to get from one place to another with the least effort.  
As his eyes fell on the tram common, and also the twins' house in one corner only just visible from here, he noticed what appeared to be a small wood on the other side of a tall wall. He followed it's edges, trying to find some way into it, but there didn't seem to be any.  
Sora's memories told him the wood predated the wall, which had been erected by the owner of the old mansion hidden within it for reasons unknown some time ago. The mansion's owner had never been seen after that, and it was presumed he'd passed away.  
There was a building that looked like it had been constructed right up against that wall, and might possibly have hidden a route into the mansion. Neither he or Sora had any idea who lived there, or if it wasn't a residence, what was done there, but he didn't really care. If he wanted to investigate, then he'd just go ahead with it and be damned with the consequences. It wasn't like anyone was going to stop him.  
With a last glance down to plan his route from the station at the base of the clock tower, he turned and headed right back down to take that route. The station and it's single elevator were the only two things that were not only open at night, but completely unattended. In the process of his exploration, he'd found a single store that remained open through the night, not offering anything he'd expected to find, though he conceded that depending on Xion's point of view, he might need to get something from there for their own night-time...  
Not that there was any sense in worrying about _that_ sort of thing. He still had to find out what had happened to Xion, let alone finding her. Possibly Kairi too, but only if she happened to be in the same area as her sister. True to form, he didn't bother to worry or even think of Kairi at all unless she happened to be in the same thought as Xion. Or if Sora was dreaming about her again. Roxas quite firmly tried not to think about the kind of dreams Sora kept thinking of. Even asleep he was a constant pest and distraction.  
As he pulled into the tram common, he became aware of a prickling on the back of his neck, acutely aware that someone was either watching him, behind him, or both. He pretended not to notice, rounding the corner of a building and waiting once out of sight of whoever his mysterious follower was.  
Not long later, there were heavy footsteps only slightly muffled, as if the stepper was trying to be silent but doing exceptionally badly at it. Roxas waited until the follower rounded the corner and looked him full in the face.  
He should have guessed. It was one of Siefer's cronies, Rai. The hired muscle of the outfit, no mistaking it.  
"Looking for someone?" Roxas asked him mildly.  
"I know you. You beat up the boss, y'know. Can't let you be getting away with that."  
"Did he happen to tell you what I did to him?" he replied in scathing tones.  
"Broken nose, he told me."  
"Serves him right," Roxas sniffed. "So now what? You're going to _try_ to do the same to me."  
"Can't let you get away with doing that to him, y'know?"  
Despite having never met him before tonight, the constant y'knows were starting to annoy him already, and so he didn't bother to dignify this with any response other than a blow to his face.  
Rai wasn't expecting it, and his expression clearly indicated he was surprised by something as his eyes glazed over after a second fist hit him solidly in the back of the head.  
He hadn't held anything back, and had also hit him with the left hand both times – the one with the ring. As he took a last look at the fallen muscle now lying on the ground beside him, he gave a brief and distinctly disturbing smile when he saw a small indent of a reversed 'R' where he'd hit him. It probably wouldn't last, but he'd left the mark he'd decided he would when he'd been planning this. True, he'd intended to leave the mark on Seifer instead, but leaving it one of his cronies was just as good.  
Without a second thought for the unconscious form on the ground, he continued on undeterred, finding that the building was curiously unlocked, and more curiously it looked abandoned. The lower floors were all but empty, while the upper floors were cluttered with all manner of old junk.  
After clearing away some of the junk, he found exactly what he'd been looking for; a small passageway that lead down into the wall behind the building. Very narrow, with very steep steps downwards. He had to walk down it half turned sideways, and with his hands pressed against the sides to keep himself from taking any missteps on the way down, but it was passable.  
A faint warm wind seemed to breeze past him as he got closer to the bottom, and leaves started to appear on the steps, making it harder to safely get down. After the first slip and fall onto his behind, he started using one foot to clear the leaves off the steps before he set foot on them. He couldn't ignore the faint pain in his behind, or the slight grazes on his elbows and hands as they'd slipped on the rough walls to try to stop his rapid descent. If they were still around when he got back to Sora's room, he considered having to try forcing Sora to stay asleep until they healed. While the prospect of being around during the day was interesting, he had no idea how easy it would be to force Sora to stay sleeping, or for that matter how Sora was going to take having unexpected aches and pains.  
He decided to leave that up to Sora to handle, he'd watch and see what he came up with. Right now, this passageway was his concern.  
It finally turned sharply at the bottom, and he had to duck so he didn't bash his head on the top of the low arched exit.  
Just as he'd thought, it opened into the small wood he'd seen from above, though from below the treetops, it seemed much larger than he'd thought. The undergrowth was clearly overgrown, left to grow unchecked. Owls hooted to each other above, the only sign of any animal life here. It belonged to the plants down below.  
Overgrown or not, it wasn't too difficult to part the tall grass and plants to make his way through to a metal arch on the far side. It was somewhat suspicious that the archway was a clear marker between overgrown plants, and a neatly mowed lawn in front of the walls and ornate gate of the old mansion. Even the hedges here were trimmed to form a nearly perfect, unbroken, straight edge, as if there was some barrier beyond which they just couldn't grow.  
From the gates, he could see the mansion itself. Several lights were on, though there were no figures outlined against the windows. He did see the shadows of a pair of cats in one of the windows, though they could have just been ornaments. They were sat facing each other, completely unmoving. With the curtains drawn, it was difficult to tell anything more about them.  
Roxas examined the gate, then the lock on it, and finally decided it wasn't worth the effort to break in. He climbed over the gate instead, dropping into the garden on the other side with only a faint tap as each foot hit the stone path leading to the door. On either side of the path, surrounded by more neatly kept grass, were a number of monuments, some resembling gravestones. Any lettering on them had long since faded however, rendering their inscriptions impossible to read. It was anyone's guess what they were for now.  
He ignored them after realising this, headed directly for the door. The hedges left no room to try to go around the mansion at all, leaving the door as the only possible choice besides the gate.  
Roxas pushed lightly against it, finding it was unlocked and well-oiled, opening easily without a single squeak to a darkened entrance hall.  
As all the lights he'd seen had been upstairs, he ignored the lower floor and headed up the wide staircase, keeping to the edges after finding they creaked far less. He hesitated at the top, wondering whether to check the left or right wing first, and settled on the left one, the one he'd seen the shadows of the cats on. For no reason at all, he was strangely curious about these cats.  
He picked his way through the dark and dusty mansion to the first of the rooms at the front of the mansion, listening intently at the door for a few moments to ensure there was no one who'd hear, then nudged this door open, poking his head warily inside.  
The cats were on the inside of the window here, one black, and the other brown. Both heads turned to face him as he entered, showing their eyes. The black cat's eyes were a light, almost icy blue, similar to his or Sora's – or Xion's, he realised. The brown one's eyes were a more violet blue._  
Like Kairi's,_ Sora murmured in his sleep, somehow picking up on what Roxas was seeing. He hastily checked to ensure Sora really was asleep, finding he'd just been subconsciously aware of what Roxas had been seeing, allowing him to breath a little easier.  
His suspicions were aroused though – could this be the place Setzer had taken Kairi and Xion? Was it just a coincidence that the cats fur and eyes matched the colours of their own hair and eyes?  
The line of thought was interrupted by a creak. Roxas quickly closed the door as quietly as he could, glancing in both directions. There was a pool of light flashing from a torch just down this corridor, heading this way. It hadn't quite reached far enough to illuminate him yet, and so he headed back the way he'd came, taking the steps back down two at a time, somehow still managing to make minimal sound as he did so.  
The light flashed out momentarily on the opposite wall on his way down. He judged it to be too risky to bolt for the door, and instead jumped the banister of the stair, and hid underneath the balcony that lined the edge of the room, watching the flickers of light on the walls to judge where best to hide so he wouldn't be seen.  
After several tense moments of waiting, a door opened, closed, and the light was gone. Roxas waited, listening for any signs the mystery torch-holder was coming out again, then when he was satisfied there was no further indications, he let himself out of the mansion, climbing the gate to get out of the garden again.  
He glanced up at the clock tower through a small crack in the trees, tilting his head to get the best view of the time, then decided it was definitely too late to do any more by now. He had time enough to get back to Sora's room again with some to spare afterwards, but that spare time wasn't going to be enough to do anything with.  
The narrow passage was slightly easier to navigate going back up again, speeding his return somewhat. He noted as he left the old building that Rai had disappeared, clearly having recovered from being knocked out by Roxas.  
Contrary to his earlier plans, he took the same route back to Sora's room, going down market street, through the sand lot, then jumping back up into the room, this time remembering to close the window after him.  
He paused as he undressed, returning his belongings to the stash, examining a clock, then decided he had just enough time for a shower to be rid of the musty smell from the junk, and the dusty smell of the mansion, and maybe to handle a few of bumps he'd picked up, hopefully enough that Sora wouldn't grow suspicious.


	5. First Day

Sora was normally a slow, and often late riser when it came to getting up, letting the world gradually come to him until he couldn't put it off any longer.  
This time, as it came to him he became aware of several distinctly uncomfortable areas. Not quite painful, but they felt like they had been at one point. Somewhere down his back felt as if it had hit something, and both elbows and hands felt as if sandpaper had been dragged over them.  
These realisations came to him slowly, as he tried to piece together what he might have done to cause them, then finally gave up, cracked open one eye and squinted at the palm of his hand.  
There were several small grazes on it, in almost neat lines. As if something had only just broken the skin a little when the hand had been dragged over it.  
The other hand was checked, and yes, there were a few more on that one. He felt over his elbows, not wanting to bother with getting up to look in the mirror and felt just a few more.  
After a few more moments, he found his back seemed fine, if slightly tender in places.  
More puzzling though was how he'd done this to himself. There wasn't anything in his room he could have done it on.  
As he thought it over, he realised there was a faintly damp smell to the air. The window was closed, and the view outside showed no sign of rain, so he reasoned it had to be something in here.  
He minimally dressed himself in case it turned out to be nothing, so he could go back to bed easier, and looked about for the source.  
His towel was definitely still damp, though drying out. What had he been doing, sleep-showering? It hardly seemed likely. Could his mystery visitor from the night before have come back again? But just for a shower... why didn't he just knock and ask?  
Yet there was no other sign of any entry, no footprints this time, nothing out of place except the small infirmities he'd noted and the damp towel. It was baffling, it made absolutely no sense at all.  
Sora shook it off, finishing off dressing himself. Maybe he should tell Riku, he might be able to come up with something.  
He picked up a quick snack before he left, almost heading up into the tunnels as usual, but instead headed down through the sand lot to the bottom of market street when he heard the clear sounds of a crowd. It couldn't be time for the struggle tournaments again, surely?  
It wasn't. The crowd, small as it was, was gathered outside Seifer's house. The door looked like it had smashed in, and Seifer himself stood in the remains of the doorway, trying to get people to leave. He wasn't having much success though, not since a slight stain under his nose suggested that someone had given him a nosebleed. Not to mention it looked like someone had broken his nose too.  
_Maybe he'll have learned his lesson now,_ the now-familiar voice murmured, satisfied. Sora ignored it, slightly worried. There was someone – or something – big enough to hurt Seifer? He'd stand up to anything and win normally.  
Riku was on the far side of the crowd, and pushed his way through when he spotted Sora.  
"Did you do that to him?" he asked, not bothering with any preamble.  
"Me? Be serious Riku, he'd never let me get that close."  
"Well, what were you doing in there last night?"  
"I wasn't in there at all! Honest Riku, I've been at home the whole night."  
"Pull the other one. I saw you clearly this time."  
"I'd remember it if I did, and I know I didn't do that!" he insisted, waving vaguely toward the remains of the door.  
Riku sighed, shaking his head. "Fine. Be that way about it. You could at least admit it."  
"But I didn't..." he started, but stopped when Riku turned away left him. So much for asking him about the mystery visitor.  
He knew Riku. It wasn't going to be worth trying to convince him, not without something to back up his side of things.  
Who had he seen though? Why was someone trying to frame him?  
Only one person could answer that he decided, and pushed through the crowd to reach Seifer.  
"I need to talk to you a moment."  
"I was about to ask you the same. Clear off!" he told the crowd, which ignored him, then gave up and led Sora up the stairs inside.  
Sora had never been inside Seifer's house before. He assumed there was something in the downstairs room, but it was anyone's guess what. He was led up to the room facing the street, which turned out to be his bedroom, though considerably neater than Sora's was.  
"I owe you an apology," he started grudgingly. "For threatening you."  
"You... you're apologising? To me?" It was the kind of thing you marked off on a calender.  
"Don't expect me to do it a second time," he growled. "I had my mind changed for me."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Someone broke in last night, and... persuaded me."  
_More like bullied,_ the voice commented.  
"So that's why your door's in pieces."  
"Obviously. What did you want?"  
"Riku said he saw me do it last night, but I don't remember it. I thought I was sleeping for the whole night."  
"It wasn't you. He looked a lot like you though. He said his name was Roxas."  
"What was different?"  
"Different clothes, hair and attitude. He's got an attitude problem if I ever saw one."  
_I've got a problem? What does that make you? You're hardly an angel either.  
_Sora tried not to pay attention to the voice, instead shaking his head. "I don't know anyone like that. I don't even know who Roxas is."  
"Riku doesn't believe you, does he?"  
"How did you know?"  
"I was watching you two talking, and you were pretty loud about it. Leave him be. I'll talk to him about it."  
"Thanks... I think."  
"Just don't prove me wrong and turn out to be Roxas."  
"Are you kidding me? You think I'd do something like that to you?" he pointed at Seifer's nose.  
"Given the chance?" he considered it. "No. Probably not. Go let yourself out."  
Even persuaded into apologising, he was still his usual self, and clearly didn't care too much for Sora's company. At least he'd do something useful about Riku though.  
Today just didn't make any sense at all, and he'd barely been up an hour. There wasn't anyone else he could go talk to, either about the injuries or his visitor, let alone the comments this voice kept making. He was starting to question whether it was really his own conscious or not.  
After a while, he made his way up to the tram common, finding himself a quiet spot where no one would notice him watch everyone go by as he tried to make sense of it all.  
A brief search of pockets turned up a balloon from the day before that hadn't made it into their catapult's crate, and not long after it found it's target, landing squarely on Hayner, splashing water over him.  
He felt better for it, creeping just out of sight to listen to Hayner's stream of comments as he no doubt looked around to see who'd done it, but Sora's heart wasn't really in it. It wasn't nearly as much fun without Riku around for some reason.  
While he waited for things to settle down again, he noticed a couple of cats had curled up nearby, one brown with violet eyes, the other black with blue eyes. While they were curled up, both were watching him intently.  
Almost absently, he reached out and petted each of them in turn, then decided he'd go home again. He hadn't been up long, maybe he could get some more sleep. Maybe when he woke up, this would turn out to be some kind of dream.  
The cats got up to watch him leave, but he noticed they didn't follow him.  
Along the way, he realised. Cats? But no one owned any cats here, and the only newcomers had been the twins. He knew they didn't have any cats.  
It was probably nothing to worry over. Not in comparison to the girls, or who this Roxas was. He'd persuaded Seifer to apologise, but why? Was he a friend, or was he just acting on a whim?  
The towel was still damp when he got back, though dryer than it had been. Today really hadn't made any sense, and he found he was really starting to feel tired despite not having done anything. Sleep looked attractive right now, so without bothering to undress, he just flopped down onto the bed and slipped into sleep...

...Roxas muttered a brief complaint at Sora. He could at least have had the decency to take his stuff off, instead of making him look stupid in them. He couldn't see how Sora didn't notice how silly he looked.  
But at least it had turned out to be surprisingly easy to persuade him he was tired and wanted to go back to sleep, which was welcome news. At one point, he'd almost been afraid he'd overdone it, almost making Sora fall asleep while walking. That would have been hard to explain, whether he took over or not.  
But now he had a whole day to himself. A day where he could be himself, among everyone else. Like normal people. It was a bit of a novelty, a bit like the first time he'd taken over in the night.  
Those cats had been in town, he remembered. The ones from the mansion. What were they doing out here? Obviously they knew about the passageway, or at least a way out into the town.  
Cats were cats though, they did whatever they wanted. The similarities, and suspicions, he'd formed that night were still strong though. He was certain there was some link between them and the twins.  
When he dropped down into the street, he realised he was faced with the same problem he faced in the night, though for different reasons. Now he had a day to himself, and could do anything he wanted, he had no idea what he wanted to do.  
Riku. Maybe Riku should get to meet him. It'd get Sora to stop worrying so much. Had Seifer gone to talk to him yet? He had no idea. It shouldn't be hard to tell though. Riku would probably be down in the tunnels, and there was no harm in having a look, and there was an entrance to the tunnels just up from here.  
Most people avoided the tunnels, and those few that chanced it did so at the risk of getting caught in one of Riku's many traps. This was well known though, and people seemed to make it through unscathed for the most part.  
Roxas had Sora's memory to call on, and was able to avoid them all easily as he went through them to find Riku's usual spot, and slowed, just out of sight when he heard voices.  
"I know what I saw, Seifer."  
"I'm not doubting that."  
"You just said you did."  
"I said they're completely different people."  
Roxas rolled his eyes, and made his way around the the raised area that lead down into where they were.  
"And I'm telling you, that was Sora."  
"Sora's hair is darker than Roxas' is."  
"So maybe he dyed it."  
"Dye takes a while to apply, and doesn't always wash out easily. You saw his hair, it's the same as it was yesterday. There's no way that's been dyed."  
"Dye isn't the only way to change what your hair looks like."  
Roxas paused to adjust one of Riku's traps, then stepped out into view, dropping down pretending not to have noticed either of them. Seifer turned when he heard the sound, and gave a faint growl of recognition. Roxas turned to him, grinned and said, "Remember me?"  
"What do you want?"  
"Now, Seifer, is that any way to treat a friend? Anyone would think you didn't like me. You really should have had someone look at your nose, by the way. It's all crooked, and doesn't really suit you at all."  
"It's your fault," he replied icily.  
"True. But I can fix it for you, you know. All I have to do is break it again."  
"Don't even think about it," Seifer answered, unconsciously taking a step back.  
Roxas laughed, then turned away from him. "You'd be Riku. I hear you saw me last night."  
"Of course you heard that Sora, I told you that this morning."  
"Sora? No, no, the name's Roxas, and don't you forget it."  
"Nice trick, Seifer, but I don't buy it," Riku said.  
"Oh dear," Roxas sighed. "You don't seriously believe that Sora would do all that, do you? Without you around, he's a complete coward. He'd sooner run than try to break into Seifer's house, or bully him for that matter. I did bully you, didn't I?" he asked Seifer slyly, who's expression turned stormy. "He's afraid of me, you know. I think it's because I'm the only one who can push him around."  
"I am _not_ afraid of you!" Seifer snapped.  
"Of course not, of course not. That's why you apologised to Sora, isn't it?"  
"If you're not Sora, how did you know about that?" Riku asked shrewdly.  
"I was listening in," Roxas shrugged. "It's amazing how easily sound carries through walls if you know where to listen." They were silent after this, so he decided to try a different method to persuade them. "If you're still not convinced, then just ask me something only Sora would know."  
They both paused to think for a few moments, then Riku decided to ask, "What's his favourite flavour of ice cream then?"  
_Sea-salt,_ Sora murmured.  
"I wouldn't know," Roxas replied. "I'm not particularly fond of it. Upsets the stomach."  
"Guess then."  
"Strawberry," he picked at random. He knew what the available flavours were, and so knew not to pick one that wasn't served.  
"You're making it too easy," Seifer shook his head. "Who's Sora's girlfriend?" he asked instead.  
"He doesn't have one."  
"What about the twins?" Riku asked.  
"The ones I saw him showing around a few days ago? What about them?"  
"He's not Sora," Riku reluctantly confirmed. "Sora would have gone on about Kairi. He's got a crush on her."  
"The brown haired one?" Roxas asked, already knowing the answer, but playing along to convince them a little more. When Riku nodded, he shook his head, "I can't see why. The other one caught my interest personally, but since they've disappeared, I'm left to wonder what happened to them, and who might know just that." Seifer turned away, climbing up to leave. "Was it something I said?" Roxas said mildly.  
"I can only spend so much time in the company of bullies before I start to feel ill."  
"Is that why you're so unkind to everyone? You make yourself ill?"  
Seifer just left. A few moments later, there was an angry yell, and several spots of yellow paint flew into view, hitting the opposite wall.  
"My, my," Roxas murmured blandly. "I wonder who could have moved the trap to do that to him." Then louder, "Yellow really isn't your colour, Seifer."  
"Shut up!"  
Riku was looking at him speculatively.  
"Was there something?" Roxas inquired.  
"How did you know about the traps?"  
"Everyone does," he shrugged. "I just have a knack for noticing them. Sora's ones are a little more obvious than yours, but yours aren't hard to spot either. For example-" He leaned on a certain stone in the wall beside him. Part of the ceiling turned out to be two flaps, which opened, dropping down an air horn. Roxas covered his ears just in time to muffle the loud blast it gave out before it retreated up again.  
Sora somehow managed to sleep through it without taking any notice at all. Riku did not fare so well, rubbing at his ears.  
"Did you really have to do that?" he asked acidly.  
"Just making a point."  
"How did you even know that one was there?"  
"That bit of stone wasn't aligned properly," he answered, covering up for Sora's memory of helping Riku install that particular one.  
"I didn't notice it."  
"You don't have sharp eyes. I notice things others don't. Anything else I can do for you? Would you like a nose to match Seifer's, perhaps?"  
"Ah – no, I think I can live without that, thanks."  
"I thought you might say that," he murmured, also leaving and picking his way through the splatters of paint. After hearing Riku scramble up to follow him, he adjusted a second one, then moments later smiled as he heard another splash.  
"Missed!" Riku called. "You can't turn my own traps on me!"  
"I'll get you yet," Roxas told him as he caught up.  
"Is that a threat or a promise?"  
"What's wrong with it being both?"  
Riku ignored that. "So what are you going to do?"  
"There's a couple of cats I spotted around the town I want to look for."  
"Cats? Who do they belong to?"  
"That's why I want to look for them."  
"Then what?"  
"I haven't decided yet. I might break into the old mansion again."  
"You can't reach it."  
"You can if you know about the back passage. And if you're careful," he added, absently rubbing at one elbow.  
Riku noticed. "Where did you do that?"  
"In the back passage. Why are you coming along?"  
"I don't have anything better to do until Sora turns up."  
"I wouldn't count on it. I overheard him talking to himself after you walked off on him earlier. Said something about going back to sleep."  
"Sounds just like him."


	6. Discoveries

Roxas noticed that Riku quickly regarded him as a friend for two main reasons – they both had a blatant disregard for the rules, Roxas more so than Sora, and they both had reasons for not liking Seifer.  
He also noted that their relationship was similar to the one with Sora, in that Sora wasn't normally a troublemaker but easily became one in the company of Riku, while between them Riku still had some semblance of right and wrong – but with Roxas, who didn't care in the slightest as long as things went his way, Riku started to care less as well.  
Mostly this didn't show itself at all, except once in the tram common where after Riku watched him steal some bottled drinks from right under the nose of the store keeper, Riku then went on to a different store and stole them several small pies for them to snack on.  
Roxas said nothing when Riku handed him one. He hadn't been wrong – Riku wouldn't just help him out if he needed, Riku would support him the whole way.  
"Did you see the cats while you were there?" he asked finally.  
"No. I asked about them though. Someone said they saw them go into the old storerooms."  
"That old building up against the wall? Just up from the twins' house?"  
"That's the one. I thought you didn't know anything about the twins?"  
"I lied," he shrugged. "It happens a lot."  
"Do you ever tell the truth?"  
"When it suits me. Come on."  
"Where're we going?"  
"The old mansion. Those storerooms of yours hide the back passage to them."  
"Wouldn't someone know about it?"  
"Yeah. Me."  
"Someone else, I mean."  
"Who cares? It gets us to the mansion, that's all that matters."  
"You really don't care about anything, do you?"  
"Oh, I care about things. Just only when they matter to me. I don't care what people think or do, I do whatever I want and that's all that matters." He paused, then added, "Except Xion. She matters too, of course."  
"Her?"  
"What, you don't think I mentioned her for nothing, do you?"  
"You struck me as the kind to have an interest in Kairi."  
"Nah. Xion. Well that's new," he commented, seeing the storerooms. The windows on one side were being boarded up, and the ones on the other side had been smashed.  
"That's a problem," Riku remarked. "They're probably not going to just let us go in there."  
"Do you really plan to let that stop you?" Roxas replied, not stopping. True to Riku's word, one of the men boarding up the windows tried to stop him. Roxas just tripped him up and continued on inside.  
Riku looked after him, hesitating. Roxas appeared in an upstairs window with a look that said 'either come or not, I'm not waiting for you', leaving him little choice. Instead of just striding through without a care, he waited until the workers were back at work and then ran through the still open door and straight up the stairs.  
Roxas was framed in a small arch in the back wall, nodding to him once then starting down the narrow passage. Riku followed warily.  
"Watch your step," Roxas warned. "The steps are small enough to slip on if you're not careful."  
"I noticed," he replied drily, trying not to lose his footing again. When he slipped and fell, Roxas paused to glance back at him, chuckling to himself.  
They eventually made it to the woods with Riku rubbing at several sore spots.  
"Now what?" he asked.  
"Does this look like a mansion to you? We keep going."  
"How are we going to get in?"  
"The same way I did last time. Climb the gate, then go in the front door."  
"That's all?"  
"Yep, that's all."  
Even though he didn't have the cover of night this time, Roxas got them into the mansion without being noticed. Once inside, he gestured to Riku to keep quiet, then silently headed back up the stairs to the room he'd seen the cats in the night before. As he had before, he listened at the door before opening it and looking inside.  
There were no cats there this time. The old furniture was still there, and the curtains had been drawn open, but there was otherwise no difference.  
"Well?" Riku whispered, but he shook his head and moved to the door opposite.  
They continued down through the doors in that wing of the mansion, finding a variety of rooms, including a bedroom that looked like it had been used recently, but no signs of life.  
They took a smaller set of stairs back down to the lower floor, continuing their search. Riku began to make himself useful, checking the doors on one side as Roxas took the other side, speeding their progress.  
When they were almost at the end, back in the entrance hall, Roxas stopped him from opening one door, shaking his head then pointing to one ear. They both remained as silent as possible, listening intently.  
A fire was crackling on the other side. It didn't sound large, more like the merry crackle of a fireplace. Cautiously, Roxas opened the door just slightly and listened at the crack, hearing the faint snuffles of someone sleeping.  
The door creaked as it was opened slowly, but the snuffling wasn't disturbed, allowing them to enter the room unseen.  
Sat in a rocking chair facing the fireplace was a tall man with long silver hair. He wore a loose shirt and dark pants, tucked into tall boots. Hanging over the back of the chair was a long black coat, trimmed in yellow.  
Riku looked to Roxas questioningly, but he ignored it, looking at the face of this stranger. A number of small scars were visible on his face, but otherwise he saw nothing new.  
He considered waking the sleeping man for a moment, to find out who he was, what he knew about the twins and the cats – but decided against it, guiding them from the room and quietly closing the door again.  
"Not yet," he whispered to Riku. "We search the other side of the mansion first."  
"What are we looking for, Roxas?" Riku whispered back.  
"The cats, the twins or anything that looks suspicious. Come on. We'll search the top first again."  
Half way along the upper floor, not only had they found nothing, but Roxas felt Sora start to stir again.  
"Not now," he muttered to himself. "Can't you wait a bit longer?"  
"Huh?"  
"Not you," he told Riku.  
"Who then?"  
"Never you mind. Keep looking, and be quiet about it."  
"Have a look at this then," Riku told him, opening the door beside him wide.  
The room's previous contents, including the carpets, had been rolled up and stacked into one corner. In their place was a mass of strange technology. Two giant pods at the edges, vaguely egg-shaped and big enough to accommodate either of them easily if they were hollow. Between them were two smaller ones, more rounded like over-large hamster balls. These two were opened, the top halves leaned back to show the hollow insides. A number of pipes and cables connected the four pods to a white box on a table, the only bit of previous furniture still in it's place. The box itself looked like it had a faint line around the middle, indicating that it too could be opened. All four pods had the look of frosted glass, making it near-impossible to see into clearly.  
Roxas closed the door behind them, then knelt to examine the two smaller pods. Both had several hairs lying inside them, clearly visible against the white frosting of the glass. One bore dark brown hairs, the other black.  
"The cats have been here," he told Riku, indicating them as he got up to look at one of the larger pods.  
He reached a hand to the nearest, finding it was cold and wet to the touch, He wiped over a small area, peering in, and saw the faint outlines of a figure inside. As the inside was still lined with the same frosting, it was impossible to see any kind of details, but if his suspicions matched what he thought he was seeing, then Kairi was inside this pod.  
Roxas checked the other one, wiping over a small area and peering in. Part of the figure seemed clearly darker than the other. Xion.  
"Roxas," Riku murmured. "Look at this."  
He knelt to look. On Riku's finger was what seemed to be ice, melting quickly.  
"How-"  
"Watch." Riku put another finger to the inside of one of the smaller pods, wiping it against the frosting and took it out. More ice on it. "These were being kept extremely cold. They're starting to melt, but there's no water from it."  
Curiously, Roxas rubbed away at the bottom of the pod, revealing a small drain hole.  
"That's why. It goes from there into one of these pipes."  
"What's in the larger pods?"  
"People, I think. But why? What's going on here?"  
Sora tried to wake up again, and he pushed him back down into sleep again. It was getting harder to keep him sleeping, and he was starting to struggle against him every time he had to push him back to it.  
Riku meanwhile opened the white box, revealing a complex panel of switches, lights and small screens. Lights labelled 'Pod 1' and 'Pod 2' were lit up in green, while the ones for 3 and 4 were off. Above them, a screen labelled 'Transfer Status' read '1-3: Complete. 2-4: Complete.'.  
"Some kind of transfer took place," Riku told him. Roxas glanced at the lights, nodded, then said, "Time to leave."  
"But we haven't finished our search yet."  
Roxas hesitated. He wasn't sure if they could finish searching the mansion before Sora managed to wake up, let alone talk with the stranger, but after this discovery they couldn't just leave.  
"We'll continue on then," he said. "But we make it quick, and we leave as soon as we're done. We can come back another time."  
"Is there something wrong?"  
"Nothing for you to worry about. Come on."  
He paused at the door to ensure it was safe, poked his head out to check the hallway, then they resumed searching the other rooms, but found nothing else in any of the upper rooms. He had to force Sora back to sleep yet again as they took another set of back stairs to the lower floor, having to pause on the way down to concentrate on the mental struggle with him. Riku looked curiously at him when he did so, but Roxas shook his head, refusing to say anything. No one should be finding out about the link between him and Sora just yet.  
In the room below the one with the pods they found another strange device. It was almost like a cone, but the edges curved inwards. It was humming, and various pipes and cables went from it into the ceiling, evidently to the pods.  
"Some kind of power source?" Riku suggested.  
"Probably," he answered. "Keep looking."  
Moments later, they'd searched the last of the rooms. Roxas turned to leave without looking back.  
"What about-"  
"We'll come back another time. Stay if you want, but I'm going-" he stopped. He couldn't say home. He didn't exactly have a home, he just stored his stuff at Sora's room.  
"Going where?"  
"Back where I came from," Roxas answered, leaving the mansion quickly. Riku followed after a few moments.  
"Where exactly?"  
"None of your business."  
"But-"  
"Everyone needs a few secrets. This is one of them. Don't try to follow me, Riku. Find something else to do when we get back to town."  
Riku looked slightly hurt, but he didn't have time to explain it to him, and probably wouldn't have even if he had. He remained silent the whole way back, heading straight for market street.  
Riku tried to follow, but was stopped when someone called, "Stop that thief!" Riku bolted, his destination unknown. Roxas didn't look back toward him, trying not to look out of place or to hurry. No one seemed to suspect him of anything – not yet, anyway.  
Maybe if Riku was still having trouble when he next got the chance to take over, he'd lend a hand. Getting back to Sora's room was more important now, as he was practically on the verge of overpowering him and waking up again.  
The window was snapped closed behind him after he took the jump up into Sora's room, then quickly removed his own belongings. Neatness was almost lost in the hurry, but he took care enough to ensure Sora wouldn't notice anything out of place, even going so far as to hurriedly pull on Sora's own clothes again – he'd been wearing them when he'd gone to sleep, it would have been strange if he woke to find he'd taken them off in his sleep.  
He took one last glance around to make sure everything was as it should be, then dropped down onto the bed, leaned back and slipped back out of control, not a moment too soon.


	7. Bad Influences

It was clear as diamond now. Sora knew exactly who the voice he'd been hearing was, and had only figured it out by feigning sleep. He'd tried to push Roxas back out, but Roxas had stubbornly held him off.  
Now he knew, what could he do?  
He kept this to himself, or at least what he imagined was to himself. Hopefully Roxas wouldn't find out that he knew.  
It explained so much. The damp towel, the intruder, the window left open, they'd all been Roxas. Riku had mistaken Roxas for him because they really did look so much alike, and the grazes he hadn't been able to explain where because of something Roxas had done.  
He didn't have access to Roxas' thoughts at any time though, and had also been barred from his own senses while Roxas had been in control, but that didn't matter for now. There was nothing he could do about Roxas for now, and so he decided it was time to find Riku and make peace with him again.  
He noted absently that Roxas must have gone out wearing his stuff, as he was still wearing them. Either that, or he had his own things, but where would he hide them?  
Sora checked the room's more obvious hiding places, then the not so obvious. A loose floorboard underneath the bed revealed a stash of clothes, five rings, and a note. The same note he'd dreamt about Seifer reading out. So Roxas had given him that dream too. Another little mystery solved.  
Riku was not in the tunnels when he got there, and there were a couple of new splashes of colour on the walls, one in bright yellow, the other a dark green. The yellow one had clearly caught someone, but the green had missed entirely.  
It wasn't like Riku to miss. Both were definitely ones he'd laid down, not Sora's own ones. It wasn't until he traced where they'd been fired from he realised someone had moved them.  
Well, two could play at that. Knowing where they all were, he adjusted all of the remaining ones before leaving the tunnels to continue his search for Riku. Several new splashes and yells told him that he was just as good as Riku at catching people by guessing.  
Word seemed to have gotten around that Riku had been taken off somewhere for being a thief, which didn't sound like him. Alright, so maybe it did actually. But it had never been anything serious, just small stuff for them to build their traps with. Usually just bits of wood, unused crates and boxes and naturally, balloons. No one worried over those things.  
But this it seemed had been a brazen theft from not one but two stores, taking food and drink from right under the store-keeper's noses. It hadn't been until another customer mentioned seeing it happen that they'd realised.  
Riku would get himself out of it though. As children, they'd joked that he'd lie them into trouble, then lie them out again just as quickly.  
It left Sora to his own devices for the remainder of the day, but this wasn't a problem. It happened sometimes.  
As it happened, Riku had turned out to be right. He was turning out to be a bad influence on him. Riku's natural mechanical streak seemed to have taken hold of him, and gave him inspiration for a whole new round of innocent pranks he could pull. Even Riku hadn't thought of this one.  
He feigned interest in mechanics at the garage, and was even given permission to try his hand creating things, provided he didn't get too large with them.  
What he had in mind wasn't large though, and didn't use many parts either. A small but strong spring, a similarly small system that would coil it back and hold it, then once in a while it would release it and coil it back again. Each of the new little devices was attached to a small bit of wood, tested once to make sure it was unlikely it would actually harm anyone too much, then he 'borrowed' some wood glue, thanked the mechanics for their generosity and went looking for his targets.  
One was just outside, almost begging to be 'upgraded' with his creation. A skateboard, leaning against a wall.  
He checked to ensure no one was around, then quickly added one of the devices, set it in place and turned the board around so no one would see it. Then he waited around nearby to watch what happened.  
The board belonged to Hayner it turned out. Well, inter-gang rivalries and all that. Hayner's gang didn't get along too well with Sora and Riku – if the two of them could be called a gang. This was just getting back at them again. Or getting back in advance.  
Hayner set off on the board without noticing, and moments later the board bucked underneath him just slightly as the spring released. Perfect. Small enough that people would think it was just a bump, but big enough that they wouldn't miss it. And only the faintest of sounds when the spring hit the ground too. No harm done at all.  
He admitted it wasn't really going to be that much of a prank, but watching a sudden outbreak of bucking skateboards across the town would prove to be an interesting sight, let alone the strange ideas it might give people from hearing it continue to go off in the night.  
Next he went back to the crate they'd left behind when they first caught Seifer and his company all at once. He might not have had Riku's gift for aiming, but he was lucky enough with his guesses in the tunnels, maybe it'd count here too.  
He took his own earlier advice, moving it to a new spot after every few shots so people wouldn't get too suspicious. There were always suspicions, but no one really did anything about it unless it got out of hand.  
There was a fair stock of balloons in the crate still, and so when he finally ran out a fair amount of the tram common had suddenly started to look like an extremely abstract painting. There were even varicoloured footprints, and long sliding trails where people had lost their grip after walking through the newly painted areas.  
"Been busy, haven't you?"  
Sora almost fell over in surprise. Riku had sneaked up behind him again.  
"Just keeping in practice," he answered. "What do you think?"  
"Looks like it's been raining paint."  
"But it has, of course. You don't think _I _ would do all of this, do you? After all, I never do this sort of thing without you."  
"So it's a freak incident that stole all our balloons, repainted the town and rearranged all the traps in the tunnels?" Riku turned and pointed at a few patches of blue paint on him. "I only just missed getting caught full on."  
Sora smirked back at him. "I just have a better aim than you. I came up with something else too." He quickly filled him in on the devices he'd made for the skateboards, handing him the only remaining one he hadn't attached.  
"So that's why everyone thinks the ground's uneven suddenly. You _have_ been busy, haven't you? I'm surprised you haven't been caught yet."  
"Me? Get caught? Never! Anyway, what happened to you? I heard something about being called a thief?"  
Riku snorted. "Roxas is a bad influence."  
"Roxas?"  
"Yeah. He showed up just after I left you at the sand lot. Sorry I didn't believe you by the way. He pretty much convinced me he's not you."  
"Told you so."  
"Don't rub it in."  
"So how's he a bad influence?"  
"You know how I'm a bad influence on you?"  
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sora grinned, gesturing vaguely at the effects of his efforts around him. "But yes. You're turning me into a right little troublemaker."  
"Well, it's like that for him and me. Roxas doesn't care about the rules in the slightest, and it sort of rubbed off on me."  
"What was with the drinks and food though?"  
"Seriously? Are people still trying to accuse me of both?"  
"That's what I heard."  
Riku shook his head. "The drinks were Roxas. All I stole were some pies for us to eat along the way."  
"You couldn't be bothered to buy them, huh?"  
"No, I just didn't want him to think I was afraid to do it. Come on, even you were like that. You'd never do any of this without me, and right back when we started-"  
"I only did it because you did, yeah, I remember. So what else did you and Roxas get up to?"  
"We went looking for a couple of cats. Can't think why he's so interested in them, but I was just tagging along. He found a way into the old mansion again, so we poked around a bit. Nothing worth mentioning though."  
"Anyone still live there?"  
"Of course not." Riku looked away and around again. "Got any ammo left for that thing?" he asked, quickly changing the subject. Sora recognised it as the sign he was hiding something. Riku always changed the subject as quick as he could if people got too close to something he wanted to hide.  
"Used it all," Sora answered. "There's a few stashes in the tunnels though – if you think you can brave my gauntlet of traps again."  
"You're leading the way," Riku answered sourly. "That way you get hit before me."  
"Don't count on that," Sora grinned back. The crate was quickly reassembled, then he dropped down on an unpainted patch of the common, picking his way around the patches to the tunnels. Several more new splashes on the walls and floors proved that Sora's rearrangement had caught more people than he'd thought, unless it was just Riku triggering as many as he could.  
He deliberately triggered one trap in front of them, ducking down quickly as it flew over his head. Riku reacted just quick enough to get clear.  
"Sorry," Sora smirked. "I forgot about that one."  
"Sure," he replied, unconvinced.  
Sora laughed, then led him a little further, triggering a different one that was launched from behind them. He turned sideways, using Riku as a shield from the worst of it and somehow managing to completely avoid getting painted. Riku did not fare so well.  
"Whoops. Sorry. I guess I forgot about that one too," Sora said, very unconvincingly because he was trying not to laugh.  
"Alright I'm getting you back for this," Riku threatened, then almost as an afterthought, "And I'm stealing that trick from you too."  
"I'm surprised you haven't thought of it yet. Glad you liked it."  
"I would have liked it more if you hadn't used it on me!"  
"Oh well." Sora ducked, tapping another section of floor to catch Riku in front as well. "Sure you still want me to lead? I do know where all the traps are now..."  
Riku glared at him, then looked down at himself and despite everything his expression softened and he too laughed. "I guess this is what I get for making you a troublemaker, huh?"  
"Yep! All your fault."  
"I'm going to try and get out without getting caught any more so I can get cleaned up. I'll meet you down in our usual spot afterwards."  
"Unless you get caught again."  
"Not on your life. I still taught you these tricks, I'll figure them out."  
"Have fun then. I'll be waiting."  
Sora watched him head out of sight, then picked his own way down to wait for him, completely avoiding the gauntlet of traps. A muffled, "Argh!" not long after proved that even Riku had trouble noticing his new arrangement of traps.  
Once he judged Riku had left, he broke open one of the stashes of balloons and went around reloading and resetting all the triggered traps, then with the leftover ammunition, set up several more new ones.  
Maybe Riku was a bad influence. But it was definitely in a good way. It was worth it.


	8. Working Together

Sora stayed up late that night, as Roxas' presence had caused him to sleep in to let him go running around causing trouble. Riku objected to his insistence on staying up late, still unaware that Roxas and Sora were technically the same person.  
Once Riku had been persuaded he really was going to go home before it got too late, leaving Sora alone in the tunnels, he decided what he was going to do.  
Roxas tried to make subtle suggestions he should make good on his promise to Riku and go home, but he ignored them now he knew the source. Besides, while he'd been reloading one of the traps he'd spotted paw prints in some of the paint – and a matching trail of prints leading away from it.  
Riku had mentioned Roxas had a curiosity in some cats, and these prints looked like they could belong to just those cats.  
The trail led down the tunnels and emerged out into the last of the light in Sunset Terrace, starting to fade as they followed the path up the hill that overlooked the tram lines. Most sensible people had, by now, headed home or at least to the relatively lighter areas as the lamps around town began to light up. The hill lacked any such lights, leaving it in the fading light as the sun set.  
It was still light enough to make out a figure stood leaning on the fence facing the tram lines though, and on the posts to either side were the outlines of a pair of cats.  
Sora approached quietly, not wanting to startle them. The cats noticed him first, each flicking an ear in his direction, then glancing over at him. They looked identical to the ones he'd seen earlier, before Roxas had pushed him into sleep.  
_Setzer,_ he heard Roxas think when the figure between them grew clearer. So this was the mysterious person involved in the twins' disappearance.  
The black cat mewed at Setzer, catching one of the empty arms of his long coat, then looked again toward Sora when Setzer looked down at it. He looked back over his shoulder and nodded to him.  
"You're up late."  
"So are you," Sora answered.  
"No," he said with a chuckle. "This is normal for me. I favour the night. It's quieter, for one thing."  
Setzer moved up along the fence to allow Sora to stand between him and the brown cat, which nuzzled at his hand affectionately, purring.  
"Seems she knows you already," Setzer noted. "She won't do that for me."  
"I saw them both earlier in town. They weren't afraid of me, and didn't seem to mind the company."  
_Ask him about the twins already will you?_ Roxas told him impatiently. Sora continued to ignore him.  
"Are they both yours?"  
"Yes. You could say I brought them with me when I arrived here."  
"When was that?"  
"About four days ago now."  
"That's when..." Sora trailed off deliberately.  
"Yes?"  
"My friends went missing," he finished. "They were twins. No one saw them after their first day here."  
"Kairi and Xion, by any chance?"  
"How did you know?"  
_Because he's responsible for their disappearance, you nitwit.  
_"I met them on the way out of the station," Setzer answered with no trace of deception to his face. "I didn't think they knew anyone here."  
"I met them after they got here."  
"Would you be Sora then?"  
"You've heard of me?"  
"Who hasn't? You're one of the two terrorizing town troublemakers. I overhear talk about you and your friend Riku quite often. I understand Seifer's a little irritated with you right now, and plans to bully you into cleaning up the tram common tomorrow."  
_Not if I have anything to say about it.  
_"It's just a little harmless fun," he shrugged. "It's not like I hurt anyone."  
"I didn't say I had a problem with it. Seifer takes himself too seriously anyway."  
"So who're you?"  
"My name's Setzer. Perhaps you've heard of me?"  
"Once or twice. There's a rumour going around that you're involved in the disappearance of the twins."  
"I hadn't heard that."  
"That's because you're not a town troublemaker," Sora answered slyly. "You get to hear all kinds of things when you don't play by the rules. So is it true?"  
The cat beside him started to climb it's way up his arm, making him wince as the claws came out for it to keep a grip.  
"Of course not," Setzer answered. The claws dug in deeper at this, and the purring stopped. The other cat gave a slight hiss. "Hush," he murmured to it, tapping the nose slightly. It made an attempt to scratch at his fingers.  
"Something wrong with them?" Sora asked around trying to persuade his cat to stop using him as a pincushion.  
"I don't know," he answered. "They've never done this before."  
Sora felt Roxas shove his mind aside, not completely but enough to use his voice to say, "You know cats can tell when people are lying."  
"I... hadn't heard that. It's probably just superstition."  
_Get out of the way, Sora. Let me talk to him. And don't pretend you don't know who I am, either. I know you know._ So much for keeping it from him.  
"There's someone else who wants to talk to you," he told Setzer.  
"Who?"  
"Roxas. He's me, but not me."  
"I don't understand." The claws dug in again, and another hiss came from beyond Setzer.  
"Just watch," Sora told him, then to the air added, "Alright Roxas. Go ahead."  
This time he felt himself shoved completely aside, though at least this time Roxas had let him continue to see and hear what happened. He felt their body change slightly, though couldn't tell what had changed. Setzer's expression grew interested briefly, then settled in mock surprise.  
"Oh, stop that," Roxas told him harshly. "I can tell you know what's going on. Let me clear some things up for you, Setzer. I found the note you left for Seifer, and even talked with him myself. I know you're responsible for the disappearance of the girls. I went to the mansion you've been hiding at and saw the stuff you've got there. So tell me, and Sora too, what you think you're playing at."  
"It's not your concern. They entered into it willingly."  
"Every time you lie, that cat hisses and tries to scratch you, and this one digs the claws in. Start telling the truth."  
"Or what?" he asked, amused.  
Roxas drew a fist back.  
_Roxas! You can't go doing that! _Sora protested.  
_Watch me,_ Roxas thought back.  
"I'm not Sora," Roxas told Setzer bluntly. "I'm not nice and I'm not afraid to take what I want – by force if people won't give it up. Start talking."  
"I don't have to tell you anything."  
The coat fell to the ground as Setzer stumbled back from the blow in disbelief, where it was picked up by a passing wind and thrown over the fence.  
"I said start talking."  
"It was done willingly," he seethed, retrieving the coat. "It was the entire reason they were sent here. They just didn't know about it."  
"About what?"  
"I made an agreement with their parents. I got them out of some trouble, and they gave me permission to use them in my experiment."  
_That's wrong, _Sora murmured, a thought Roxas echoed aloud.  
"They said that too," Setzer answered with a cynical laugh. "I told them I was the only one willing to bail them out, and it was me or nothing. They gave in fairly quickly after that, though the promise not to harm them probably helped. I've kept that promise."  
"By freezing them in those pods I saw in the mansion?"  
"What do you think, Roxas? Or you, Sora?"  
"Sora doesn't know about it. I've kept my activities from him."  
_And almost got me into trouble,_ Sora added.  
_Shut up. If you weren't such a coward, I wouldn't have had to do that to Seifer.  
__Well excuse me. I'm not the one going round randomly punching people, or kicking in their doors.  
_"He can still hear us, I assume. That's how it usually works for those like you. So he'll find out before long. Go ahead. Take a guess."  
"You've done something that's put them into these cats, which is why they keep reacting when they know you're lying."  
_He knows something about others like us – ask him about them.  
__I told you to shut up, Sora.  
_Sora concentrated on the thought of kicking Roxas somewhere sensitive, and was rewarded with knowledge Roxas had felt it when his eyes watered from the feeling of it – even though it had never happened.  
Setzer seemed to notice this, and commented, "You shouldn't be fighting with each other. You're both the same person, after all. You're just different sides of each other."  
"How did you do this to us?"  
Setzer cocked his head, listening for a moment then answered, "I'll leave that for you to find out another time." Roxas made to grab his arm, but keeping tight hold of his coat, Setzer jumped over the fence and down onto the top of a tram exiting the tunnel, receding into the distance with a mocking bow.  
_I don't suppose you'd care to let me back in? _Sora asked while Roxas stared after him in chagrin.  
"Only because I feel as ridiculous as you look," Roxas muttered. The was the shoving feeling again, and the odd feeling of the body changing once more, then he was back in control and listening to Roxas mutter to himself in the back of their mind.  
"You two can come with me if you like," he told the cats. "I'll try and keep you safe from him until one of us figures out how to get you back to normal."  
_That's simple. Take them to the old mansion and use Setzer's stuff to sort it.  
_"You know how to reach the mansion, Roxas. I don't."  
_Then I'll just have to give you directions, won't I? Go stop by your room, Sora. I'm not having you go there looking like that. Get my stuff instead, then I'll tell you how to get there.  
_"What's wrong with what I've got?" he muttered back, not wanting to look like he was talking to himself as he headed back down the hill toward the terrace, the cats following him.  
_I already told you, you look ridiculous wearing that stuff. Anyway, you go like that and you'll end up with nicks all over your legs from the plants and nettles in the undergrowth along the way.  
_Sora grumbled about it a bit more, but reluctantly gave in. He didn't see anything silly about his look.  
He'd missed the last tram back to the station, and so had to go through the tunnels to get back, pausing at the entrance to pick up the cats so they wouldn't accidentally trigger any of the traps along the way. He noted a few more new splashes dripping their way down the walls once more proving he had a better aim than Riku – or maybe people were just getting more daring, and hadn't expected him to rearrange them all.  
_Why do you do stuff like that?_ Roxas asked him on their way through. _You could at least do something more productive.  
_"Like beating up Seifer? No thanks. He's got enough reasons not to like me."  
_You're a coward.  
_"No, I just don't like getting into fights."  
_Same difference.  
_"Only if you're you."  
_You heard Setzer. I'm you, just a different side of you.  
_"Yeah, the side that doesn't care for anyone or anything except himself."  
_And Xion.  
_"I'd love to see how you're going to manage that, Roxas."  
_I know what you're thinking. I can just push you out whenever I want.  
_"And I can push back."  
_I'll think of something._


	9. Cats, Cats and More Cats

**A/N: **Slightly shorter chapter than normal, but I figured I'd put it off for long enough. See if you can guess who each of the extra cats are before I write (or you read) the next chapter.

* * *

"I feel stupid," Sora muttered as he made his way back out into the night-time streets.  
_Now you know how I feel wearing your stuff,_ Roxas told him. _So stop complaining.  
_"What if Riku sees me like this? Or Seifer? They'll think you're me, and that I was just acting or something."  
_You worry too much. They're all in bed by now anyway. You would be too, if it hadn't been for me.  
_"Don't make it sound like you're doing me a favour. It's gonna take me weeks to get back to sleeping at normal hours."  
_Normal is for other people. Anyway, I say we tell them the truth, and show them if we have to.  
_"Are you crazy?" he asked, pushing his way through the junk to get to the passageway Roxas directed him to. The cats, more agile than him, easily leapt over the debris and were down the stairs in a flash. "Can you imagine what people would say?"  
_Nope, and I don't really care what they think.  
_"Yeah, but you wouldn't care about anyone else if you didn't have to."  
_Look in the mirror, Sora. You generally don't care either. Why else would you keep on soaking people the way you do with Riku?  
_"At least I don't hurt them."  
_Believe it or not, I don't make a habit of it. You just discount it as an option, I'm just more willing to use it. Mind out on those stairs, especially near the bottom.  
_"So this is where you went and injured us, huh?"  
_I was just a little careless. Concentrate, Sora.  
_Sora took the stairs slow to avoid repeating the mistakes Roxas had, emerging out into the warm breeze of the overgrown woods beyond. The cats had either gone on ahead, or were lost somewhere in the undergrowth.  
_Go careful here. There's nettles and other thorny plants hidden in all that undergrowth.  
_"I thought that was why you got me to wear your stuff? So they wouldn't get me."  
_They'll keep you from getting hurt by them, just mind you don't snag them on the thorns or something. Take care of my stuff, or I'll take care of you.  
_"Will you stop threatening me?" Sora muttered, making his way through and out the far side. "It's not like you can actually do anything to me without doing it to yourself as well." He paused, examining the gates, chained shut. "I thought you said you'd found your way into the mansion? These gates don't look like they've ever been opened."  
_Well duh. You use the gates to climb over the walls.  
_Sora looked the gates over critically.  
"No offence Roxas, but I don't want to chance-"  
Roxas cut him off, pushing him out of control again. Sora's nature just wouldn't let him do it, so he'd have to do it himself.  
"You do it like this," he said once the usual change had taken place. It was a small matter for him to climb up, over and drop down lightly to the floor below. "See? Not so hard at all."  
_I don't know how you can do that. I'd never try that. You could have broken something if you'd landed wrong.  
_"Oh, stop being so cautious. A few injuries here and there aren't going to kill you."  
Roxas continued up to the doors of the mansion, where the cats waited with two more cats, both lighter brown in colour. One had brown eyes and the other blue. The nose of the blue-eyed cat looked slightly different, almost as if it had just grown at a different angle, and there was a small scar just above it.  
The four cats appeared to have been talking among themselves however cats talked, as the black one, the one that resembled Xion, came over to Roxas as he approached them. It looked up at him questioningly, mewing at him.  
_Two more cats? Do you think Setzer might have caught two other people and done the same to them?  
__Probably,_ Roxas thought back. _I think I know how to find out.  
_Roxas crouched low to the Xion cat and asked, "You want me – I mean us – to help them too, right?" The head bobbed. "Because they're like you and Kairi?" Another bob, then she got up and went back to the door, scratching at it once, then looking back to him.  
_Better let them in, Roxas. They can lead us to Setzer's stuff.  
__I know where it is already.  
__What makes you think he hasn't moved it? Especially if these really are two more victims of his experiment.  
__Point taken. You're not as stupid as you look.  
__Hey! Cut that out!  
_Roxas smiled despite himself, following the cats as they scampered up the stairs, but instead of taking to the right wing of the mansion where he'd discovered the pods originally they headed into the left wing instead, and to one of the larger back rooms.  
There were now twelve pods, six larger ones, all apparently occupied, each with one of the six smaller ones just beside it.  
The four cats looked to him questioningly again.  
"Don't any of you know which one is which?"  
The general idea, though hard to pick up, was that they had no idea.  
Roxas checked each of the pods, wiping aside some of the frosting to try and make out the occupant. It was considerably harder to make out than it had been before, as if the frosting had deliberately been made thicker to prevent identification.  
The darker hair of Xion and Kairi made their pods the easiest to find, but the remaining two cats had matching colours, making it difficult. Between them they could tell which two pods belonged to them, but not which of them was for each with the few details they could make out. The only definite thing they could tell for sure was that both had the same hair colour as the cats.  
The remaining two pods were also occupied. One had dark hair like Xion's but far shorter, while the other was a very distinctive light blue.  
_Riku,_ Sora thought. _I only know one person in all of Twilight Town that has hair that colour, and that's Riku.  
__Yeah, but who's the other one? And where are they?  
__Ask the cats?  
_"Hey," he called down to them, kneeling again to get closer. "There's two more here. Do you know where they went?"  
The two light brown cats looked to each other, then dashed out together.  
Roxas watched them leave, then pointed out the pods that belonged to Kairi and Xion. Kairi jumped into the little pod by her larger one, then quickly jumped out again, shaking some of the frost inside off her fur.  
"Careful," Roxas warned. "They're cold."  
Kairi stared at him flatly, while Xion somehow managed to look amused as she curled up beside hers.  
While they waited, Roxas examined the pods from behind, finding each one had been labelled with a number on the back. The odd conical power source was now humming away behind the pods, and the control panel Riku had pointed out to him on their last visit was beside one of the walls. It had been extended a fair bit to accommodate the extra pods, but otherwise was familiar to him.  
This time, he examined the other controls in more detail, figuring out which switches controlled the transfers it had caused in the first place.  
_Are you sure you know how to work that Roxas?  
__Only one way to find out.  
__At least be sure you know what it'll do.  
__Relax, Sora. I'm not going to do anything to Kairi or Xion with this unless I know it'll do what it's meant to. I care about them too. Maybe Xion more than Kairi, but I know you care about Kairi more.  
_The door creaked open again, and a second black cat, accompanied by yet another one looking strange with Riku's odd hair colour, entered the room along with the original two that had gone looking.  
There was a moment of mewing between the cats, though neither he or Sora understood what was going on, then all four of them looked to him.  
"We're going to have to guess for you two," he warned the two lighter cats. The brown-eyed one mewed something to the blue-eyed cat, which made a swipe back at it. It missed though, and Roxas was sure he saw it stick it's tongue out in return.  
Roxas checked the control panel and the pods again, setting it to what, he hoped, would transfer them all back from being cats to themselves, then directed everyone to their pods. In the case of those two with the similar colour, he hoped he'd gotten them the right way round, and wondered what they'd say if they got it wrong.  
_They'll know it's a mistake, _Sora told him. _But I think it'd be pretty funny to see someone acting like someone else. Imagine if one of them was Seifer.  
_Roxas gave a brief chuckle at that, then went along tapping each of the smaller pods closed, pausing to fend off a vicious pretend attack from Riku along the way, then set the transfer going.  
The smaller pods frosted over rapidly as the pods all seemed to hum and whir into life, even managing to drown out the hum of the power source.  
Roxas glanced down at the display on the panel, and was relieved to see it read: 'Transfers active: 2-1, 4-3, 6-5, 8-7, 10-9, 12-11. No current issues.'  
"I guess now we wait," he murmured.


	10. The More You Know

**A/N:** Right, now I'm back at work on other stories, I figure it's about time I put this up.  
How many of the cats did you figure out the identities of? Well, read on and see how many you got right.

* * *

The transferring was taking some time, so Roxas has handed back over to Sora to take a nap. Sora followed suit, finding a chair in one corner of the room to doze in.  
Finally, the controls on the box beeped, flashing a single green light. He glanced up and checked it, noticing it now read 'Transfers complete'.  
"Roxas," he said aloud.  
_What?  
_"It just finished."  
_Any of the pods opened yet?  
_"Not yet. The ones the cats were in are empty though."  
_Sounds about right. Give it a little time. If I understand those controls right, then they'll open when the occupants reach consciousness.  
_Sora nodded, yawning, glancing through each of the pods.  
The fourth of the larger pods clicked, then opened, revealing none other than Seifer inside. He looked himself over, pulled his hat out of a pocket, then winked at Sora as he left the room.  
"Guess we got them right after all," Sora murmured.  
_Still got to wait for the other one first,_ Roxas reminded him.  
The third pod opened next, showing Hayner, closely followed by Pence in the sixth. Hayner too looked down at himself, then ran out of the room muttering, "I'm gonna kill him for this."  
"Hey, wait for me!" Pence called after him, pausing by the door to say, "Thanks Sora. And you too Roxas."  
"It's weird having people talk to you through me like that," Sora murmured.  
_Might as well get used to it. Unless you can find a way to separate us or something, you'll have to put up with me for a long time yet.  
_Kairi came next. She glanced over at Xion's pod then laughed, "She always did like to sleep in. Thanks boys. It was nice being a cat, but I missed being human."  
"You're welcome," Sora answered, turning red.  
"I hope neither of you mind. She and I told each of them about you."  
_Excuse me Sora, _Roxas said, then borrowed his voice again.  
"How did Seifer take it?"  
"He says as long as Sora keeps Roxas from breaking anything else of his, he was alright with it."  
As she said it, Xion finally exited her pod, yawning then adding, "Riku was a bit annoyed at you both though. He reckoned Sora could have trusted him with it, and Roxas should have stuck around to get him out of trouble."  
Sora somehow felt Roxas feeling a little uneasy now Xion was awake, but also knew he wasn't going to do anything, so he tried something new and let himself slip out of control, leaving Roxas to take over.  
Roxas didn't seem to have noticed for a moment, then he realised, nervously looked Xion in the eye, then blushed, setting both girls laughing.  
"Um. I guess I don't need to tell you it's me then."  
"What's wrong, Roxas?" Xion teased. "You've gone all red."  
Sora felt him try to give up again, but this time he resisted.  
_Go on, Roxas. Tell her how you feel.  
_Roxas was saved from having to by the distraction of Riku's pod opening at last.  
"You could have let me have a little longer," he told them, shaking his head. "I was enjoying myself."  
"I'm pretty sure I know how to work this well enough to put you back again if that's what you want," Roxas replied.  
"Maybe later. Setzer fed us that tinned cat food, and I want a real meal again. Don't keep our boys too long, will you?" he asked the twins, then left.  
"What did he mean by that?"  
"We thought you'd like to know why Roxas exists," Kairi answered.  
"We're twins," Xion continued, "But we have to try to act differently, because we're actually identical. That's why I dyed my hair."  
"When we're around anyone who starts to get close to us, because we're so alike something makes them split into two. Like here, Sora, and you Roxas. You're like him, but with just a few differences – like us."  
"Is there anything we can do about it?" Roxas asked.  
"We've never found anything," Kairi shrugged. "There's only a few others like you though, but they were all managing alright when we left. That's why Setzer did all that to us. He wanted to see if we still had the same effect if we stopped being humans. We didn't want him to do that though, so he went around us to our parents instead."  
"That's wrong."  
"Odd sentiment, coming from you," Xion said with a raised eyebrow. "I saw you punch Rai that night. Isn't that wrong too?"  
_You hit Rai? He didn't think you were me, did you?  
__Of course not, _Roxas told him then to the twins, "He annoyed me. Besides, I had other things on my mind."  
_Ask them where Setzer's gone.  
_Roxas passed the question on.  
"Probably back wherever his home is," Kairi shrugged. "I think that's what he said once."  
"Yesterday," Xion confirmed. "When he brought the others in."  
"How did he manage that?" Roxas asked curiously.  
"He tricked them," she answered with an edge in her voice. "Lured them out to the storerooms, then knocked them out. When they came to, they'd already been turned into cats with the rest of us."  
"Wonder what we should do with these things..."  
"I guess we keep them..."  
"Yeah," Kairi grinned. "For Riku when he wants to go back again."  
Sora nudged Roxas, who gave him control again.  
"What would happen if Roxas or me used them?" he asked.  
"No idea. Welcome back again," Kairi added absently. "I reckon we should keep them safe here for now. I mean, it's not like anyone except us knows how to get here."  
"And the others Setzer used them on," Xion nodded. "And Roxas is the only one who knows how to work them besides Setzer."  
"Maybe we can lure Setzer back here and unexpectedly turn him into a cat," Sora thought aloud. "Just so he gets to find out what the rest of you had to go through, that is."  
_Do you ever stop thinking about playing tricks on people?_ Roxas sighed.  
"It'd teach him a lesson," Xion murmured, the glanced to Kairi. "You're thinking what I'm thinking, aren't you?"  
"Naturally," Kairi answered, grinning. "Would you boys care to wait here for us? I think we might be able to bring a special guest here."  
_Not them too...  
__Loosen up, Roxas, _Sora said, finally figuring out how to talk to him without needing to say it out loud. _It's just a little harmless fun. Try to get in the spirit of things.  
__Oh, alright then. At least find out how long it'll take.  
_"How long d'ya think it'll take you to persuade him to join us?"  
"Good question. Could we talk to Roxas a moment?" Kairi waited until the change of appearance happened, then went on, "These pods, do they put someone to sleep as soon as they're closed?"  
"I think so," Roxas answered. "Why-" he began, then nodded. "Oh, I see. Very neat. He'll be kept out of trouble in one until we turn up to set it going."  
"That's the plan. We'll come find you when it's done."  
"Oh, by the way... sorry about your door. I was sort of concerned about you, and I didn't have a key."  
"Don't worry about it," Xion replied. "Seifer paid to replace it when he had his own one fixed. He even stood guard over our house for us until it was finished."  
"I guess Seifer does have his useful moments then," Roxas grudgingly admitted. "I guess we're off home then. If Sora lets me call his home mine too."  
_Of course. Did you think I was going to just make you sleep outside or something?_


	11. Revelations

**A/N: **If you've anything against those who show signs of being gay, you may not like the latter part of this chapter. But being so myself, I stand by the last comment made by Roxas on the matter.  
Keep your opinions on it to yourself though - especially the negative ones.

* * *

It was agreed that night that Roxas wouldn't go getting him into trouble at night, and in exchange Roxas would have every other day to himself. They'd only break with that if they felt it necessary, or for one to handle something the other couldn't.  
As Roxas had been the one around for most of that day, it had also been agreed that today was Sora's day. As usual, Roxas passed comment on his choice in clothes, pointing out he still looked ridiculous. Sora ignored the comments, grabbing a quick breakfast then heading out and down into the tunnels to find Riku.  
_I had a thought last night once you went to sleep,_ Roxas said as he made his way there.  
_What's that?  
__Well, the twins told us that anyone who got close with either of them would end up like us, right?  
__Yeah, I remember that. Why bring it up?  
__Didn't Riku say he had an interest in Kairi too, the day after they got here? Why didn't he get affected by it?  
__Probably because he never actually met them until after Setzer took them to the mansion.  
__I think it's possible to get close to someone without meeting them. I mean, look at me and Xion. Until last night, I'd never met her in person either.  
__If you're really all that curious, I can ask him.  
__Would you mind? I'd wait until tomorrow, but I'm impatient.  
__I noticed.  
_Riku joined him in the tunnels before he reached their usual spot.  
"Hayner's asked us to meet him up on Sunset Hill," he told Sora.  
"Asked? Are you sure he's not up to something again?"  
"Well, if he is, he can't sneak it by both of us, can he?"  
"True. Gotta question from Roxas for you."  
"He wants to see if my nose breaks the same as Seifer's did?"  
"Be nice," Sora murmured. "The twins explained why Roxas exists to you, right?"  
"Yeah, you had a crush on one, puts you close to them, so he pops up with a crush on the other."  
_It's not a crush!_ Roxas spluttered in the back of his mind. Sora ignored it, smiling. He couldn't hide anything from Riku, he knew Sora too well.  
"You told me you had an interest in Kairi the day after they got here, so he was wondering if you'd got hit by it the same as we did."  
"Nah. I was just saying that so I could tease you over it."  
"Oh really?"  
"There's more to it than that, but I'm not telling. The twins know though."  
_I wonder what he means by that,_ Roxas mused as they emerged back out into the morning light.  
Hayner was waiting alone for them on the top of Sunset Hill, which wasn't like him. Always before he'd have the rest of his gang around – much like Seifer, though at least Seifer wasn't afraid to appear without them.  
"Is it just me," Riku murmured to Sora, "Or does he look slightly odd?"  
"Looks just the same as usual to me."  
_He's stood differently, Sora.  
_Sora passed that on to Riku.  
"I thought so. He looks like he's trying to stand like Seifer normally does."  
_Hey, Roxas? You don't think we got Seifer and Hayner the wrong way around, do you?  
__I did warn them we might make a mistake,_ Roxas replied. _Maybe that's why he's asked us here.  
_"What's up Hayner?" Sora called to him. "Riku said you wanted us."  
"Did you do this on purpose?" Hayner asked him acidly, gesturing to himself. "Think it's funny, do you?"  
"What're you talking about?"  
"I'm Seifer, you blockhead! Now Hayner's going around pretending to be me and totally ruining my reputation, and it's your fault!"  
Sora glanced to Riku, then whispered in one ear, "Thinking what I'm thinking?"  
"Think he'll do it?"  
_Of course he will, _Roxas chipped in, naturally already knowing what Sora was thinking.  
"Roxas thinks so, and so do I," Sora answered.  
"Let me suggest it to him. He might still be a bit annoyed at finding out about you and Roxas."  
"Sure you can handle it?"  
Riku winked at him, then they turned back to Seifer.  
"We've got a plan," Riku told him. "It'll probably get you back to your old self in no time."  
"Probably?" Seifer asked, eyeing Riku suspiciously.  
"Hayner's telling everyone he's you, right?"  
"I already said that."  
"So just do the same. You and Hayner don't get along, everyone knows that. So what better opportunity to do the same thing to him?"  
"I don't..." Seifer started, then seemed to take it in, thinking it over. "You might have a point there... he would get a little... bothered by it, wouldn't he?"  
"So what do you say?" Sora asked. "Think you're up to pretending to be Hayner for a bit?"  
"What am I going to tell Pence and Olette?"  
Riku seemed to consider it, then answered, "Might want to keep it from them. Olette, at least. Pence knows what happened, he might understand if you tell him what Hayner's getting up to and why you're doing it."  
"And if you're ever at a loss for something to do, you can always come bother us," Sora added. "Or pretend to, anyway. Hayner often shows up just to bug us."  
"I'll... give it a try," Seifer said, starting to look a little more like Hayner now he was trying to.  
"But don't bother us when we're trying to prank people, will you?" Riku asked. "If you're going to pull it off, you've got to learn to take our side of it. Hayner does, so you've got to."  
"I'll pretend not to notice anything you do until I get back to normal," Seifer nodded, then grudgingly added, "Thanks," as he headed past them back down the hill.  
"He's even starting to walk like Hayner does," Riku noted.  
"There's still something very Seifer-like about him though."  
"I think it's because he still takes himself too seriously. He needs to learn to loosen up."  
_Maybe acting like Hayner will get him to achieve that,_ Roxas suggested. Sora mentioned it for him, since Riku couldn't hear him.  
"We can hope. It'll be nice not to have to worry about him chasing us up after every new trick we pull."  
"Are you kidding me? That's half the fun! Remember a few days ago when we got him with that new catapult of yours?"  
"How could I forget? You could just picture the paint on him when he came to find us afterwards, even though he'd cleaned it all off him."  
They watched Seifer head out of sight, then Riku shook his head, chuckling to himself.  
"Something funny?" Sora asked.  
"Just thinking about what could happen. Knowing Hayner, he could decided to try to outdo Seifer at this instead."  
"I dunno. I reckon he'd come to us to try and convince Seifer to go to the mansion with us to get it sorted."  
"Yeah, but think about it, if Seifer starts to get into his role as Hayner, he could decide to do the same thing Hayner is right now. Then what?"  
"I guess we give Hayner some advice on how to bug Seifer some more."  
"Exactly. They'll keep coming back for more if we do that."  
"Sounds like fun," Sora grinned. "Should we find Hayner first, or let him come to us?"  
"Nah. Let him come to us. I've got a plan anyway."  
"Another one?"  
"You know that storeroom that leads to the mansion, right?"  
"Of course."  
"How about if it belonged to us? We could hide the route to the mansion, have a good reason to persuade people not to come look..." he trailed off.  
"And generally do anything we wanted?" he suggested.  
"Yeah."  
_Here we go again,_ Roxas sighed.  
_We'll give you a room to yourself if you stop that.  
__Really? All to myself?  
__Sure. Why not? Means you don't have to share with me. Well, sort of._

The storeroom had turned out to be unowned, and after Riku paid a visit to the town hall, he'd come back with a broad grin, and apparently with complete permission to do whatever they wanted with the place, provided they funded it themselves.  
Most of the day after that had been spent tidying the various junk that was in there so they actually had some space to work with. None of it was thrown away if one of them thought it could be useful for fixing up the place, and even what was being marked to be chucked out was just stored in one room until they had some way of getting rid of it.  
Riku had marked one room as behind his almost as soon as they started to gain some space, prompting Roxas to persuade Sora to claim one for him before they ran out of rooms. Riku had agreed surprisingly quickly.  
When they made to lock up and leave before it got too late, Hayner – the real Hayner – found them.  
"What're you two up to?" he asked, not quite pulling off Seifer. "Causing trouble again?"  
"Pull the other one," Riku told him. "Seifer told us what you're up to already."  
"Aw, come on! You could at least gimme a chance!"  
"Didn't you have enough chances through the day?"  
"Yeah, but I didn't find you until now." He paused, then curiously asked, "Did you say Seifer told you?"  
"Yeah, why?"  
"What's he up to?"  
"Trying to be you, last we saw," Sora supplied. "Pretty well, too. I'd say almost better than you're pulling off him."  
"Oh yeah? Well I'll show him!"  
"You know, I think you might have been right," Sora told Riku. "It could be a long while before they stop trying to get the better of each other."  
"Told you so," Riku answered. "Don't suppose I could crash at yours tonight, could I?"  
"Huh? Aren't you headed home?"  
"I guess I could, but... eh, it's alright if you don't want me to, I guess it is kinda short notice."  
"N-no, I didn't mean that, I just... you caught me by surprise. I don't think there's much room for you."  
"Hey, I don't mind nicking a bit of floor from you."  
"Seriously?" Sora asked sceptically, starting to wonder if Riku really did have another side to him. "You'd rather pass up your own bed for the floor?"  
Riku nodded, "If you don't mind me being there, that is."  
"Did Kairi put you up to this?" he asked suspiciously.  
"When would she have had the chance to do that? You've been around me all day."  
"Except when you went down to the town hall," he pointed out.  
"True. Didn't run into them though, only Seifer being Hayner pretty well."  
_If I didn't know better, I'd say we made a mistake with Riku too,_ Roxas remarked. _He's acting very oddly.  
__You noticed. I don't know what to say to him...  
__Think he'd notice if I borrowed your voice again?  
__Why not just have me say it, Roxas?  
__Because I know you, Sora. It's the kind of thing you'd never say.  
__I think he might notice then, yeah.  
__Let me give it a try anyway.  
_"No offence meant, Riku," Roxas said for him. "But... don't you think if people heard about it, they might think that we're..." he left it hanging at that.  
Riku glanced down to him, a smile over his lips.  
"What's wrong with that? It doesn't matter what people think, so long as you know what's true, right?"  
"I'm the one who's got to live with it though," Roxas answered, still talking through him. Sora had no idea what he was talking about. "And you know what some people are like about that sort of thing."  
"Better than you do," Riku answered. "Don't worry. I get it. See you tomorrow."  
"No you won't," Sora said, taking his voice back.  
"You're right," Riku remembered. "See _Roxas_ tomorrow, and you the day after."  
_What was that about?_ Sora silently asked Roxas as Riku veered off to wherever his home was.  
_You mean you still didn't get it? It was fairly obvious.  
__You mean he...  
__I think he might be. Or leans that way. Why else would he say he knew better than us?  
__I guess... Roxas, you don't think...  
__Go on, Sora. Just say it.  
__If he is, you don't think he's got it in for me, do you?  
__Can't deny some people are like that, Sora. At least you know now that he might, rather than being so oblivious about it.  
_Sora was left lost for words. He'd never even considered it before.  
It was true though. He did know how people in these parts reacted to... things like that.  
On the other hand, it did sort of sound just like Riku. He never was one to fit in, he had to be different... and he had taken to Sora fairly quickly...


	12. Fundraiser

**A/N: **Yeah, I know this chapter is kinda filler-ish. But since a fair part of Sora's chapters were filled with similar kind of stuff, I felt it was Roxas' turn to have a similar chapter to himself.  
Besides, how else are they going to pay to fix up that old place I gave them?

* * *

Roxas, being the other side to Sora, and also being many things he was not, was more tolerant of the implications of Riku's statements the previous night. He shared Riku's point of view on the matter, specifically that he didn't care what others thought, as long as the truth was known to those people who mattered. What business was it of other people to tell them what they could and couldn't do?  
He left Sora to enjoy sleeping in, nudging him aside to take his day out and about. Sharing like this was fairer, at least. It meant he had his own days too, and didn't have to worry about Sora getting up and wondering what he was doing somewhere else.  
He still had to share Sora's room though, something that still bothered him. The storehouse though, they'd both promised him a room to himself there. The first place that truly belonged to him. Just as soon as they fixed it up a bit more... and figured out what they were going to do with some of the stuff in there.  
Contrary to Sora's choice of terms, much of it was not actually junk as such. Some of it was useful, just not to them. He already had a plan to handle both this, and the issue of funding their efforts. It was so simple he couldn't see how even Riku hadn't thought of it. Though if Riku had been more preoccupied with his bombshell statement last night, at least that made it understandable.  
As had become his habit, Roxas didn't bother with the door, instead dropping down out of the window instead, only narrowly missing Hayner – well, Seifer acting as if he was Hayner – running out of their spot, closely followed by Olette, then Pence.  
Sora would have headed directly to the tunnels, but Roxas had his plan to work on, so instead headed down through the sandlot, then up to the common, heading for their newly acquired hideout. They could call it whatever they wanted, it would always be their hideout to him.  
How to go about this... well, they'd cleaned out most of the lower floor. True, it had meant stuffing a lot of it upstairs, leaving the rooms mostly uninhabitable since they were pretty much buried, but there was space. With the windows boarded up though, little light.  
The boards over the windows were quickly taken off despite the smashed windows hidden underneath, and several crude tables constructed. The addition of other furniture that had been stacked away gave a fair space to put some of the remaining stuff on and out. He'd considered putting some outside as well, but the skies had been overcast – and overcast in Twilight Town usually meant rain.  
Then with some care, he took one of the boards that had been in the window and wrote out what he realised were actually the first words he'd write. It seemed sort of a shame they were being used to write 'clearance sale – see something and make an offer'. Blunt, and probably not the best way, but it was a start.  
All that was left now was to sit around and wait until people started to show up to notice it. It was early yet though, leaving him ample time to just relax and watch the sun rise over the buildings outside.  
Riku eventually showed up a while later, not having missed anything interesting. He gave a glance at the sign he'd left outside, then joined him.  
He took in the scene inside, then Roxas sat leaning on the back feet of a chair, then said, "You could have asked."  
"I heard you and Sora yesterday. Trying to figure out ways to pay for what you wanted to do in here. So I took note of what neither of you wanted, and decided the rest might as well go to someone who wants it."  
"What about stuff you want?"  
"I just got Sora to put it in my room," Roxas answered. "Not that I can actually do anything with my room for now, but at least I know it's my room."  
"I guess it has the virtue of being simple."  
"Best way. Care to lend a hand? I'm sort of expecting it to get a little busy later on, and I'll need someone to bring more stuff from upstairs as it walks out the door."  
"Junk walking out the door," Riku laughed. "Wonderful image, Roxas. How do you come up with these things?"  
"It's a gift," he shrugged.  
Riku slipped upstairs, then after the sounds of some rearrangement and muffled grumblings, he returned with a second chair and joined him. Riku looked awkward for a few moments before he finally asked, "Did you happen to hear what I said to Sora last night?"  
"I was wondering when you were going to mention that. I heard everything Sora did, of course. Unless he asks me for a little privacy, I always will."  
"And?"  
"And what?"  
Riku seemed taken off-guard, almost worried, then asked, "Don't you have any views on it?"  
"What for? It's none of my concern."  
"You know, the last time I told someone, I had to tell them I was joking because they threatened to tell the kind of people that even you wouldn't fight?"  
"There's no such thing," Roxas snorted. "If they threaten my friends, then I'll take them on."  
"Yeah, but I'm not you."  
"You noticed. Anyway, you didn't seem to have a problem telling Sora."  
"I was more nervous than I looked about it. Couldn't tell how he'd take it." There was another awkward silence before, in an almost small voice, Riku asked him, "Just how did he take it?"  
"You sort of freaked him out a little. He never thought of you like that. But I don't think he's got anything against it. Give him a little time to come to terms with it."  
"What if he doesn't?"  
"He will. Even if I have to persuade him to."  
"What about you?"  
Roxas didn't answer right away. He admitted he also hadn't given it any thought either, but reasoned Riku would need at least one friend who he could talk to over it.  
"You know I'm still sorta set on Xion," he said at last.  
"Yeah. Just like Sora's crush on Kairi. It's just a crush though. Everyone goes through them."  
"In all honesty, I'd like a chance at making it more than a crush. But I've nothing against you, Riku. If that's the way you are, then who am I to tell you to stop? Even if Sora doesn't want to talk about it, you can always come to me about it."  
"Thanks Roxas. I appreciate it."  
"No trouble. It's what friends do, right?" After a moment he added, "I'd sort of appreciate it if you didn't do anything... like with me though."  
"Don't worry," Riku laughed. "If anything, Sora's the one who should be asking me that."  
"What do you say I 'forget' to tell him about this then?"  
"He's still asleep?"  
"It's my day out, which means it's sort of a day off for him. You can't blame him. Besides, he hasn't figured out how to look at my memories yet, so he can't cheat like I can."  
"I almost envy him. Able to sleep in for an entire day because of you. Makes me almost wish I really did have an interest in one of the twins."  
Roxas would have said something more, but the first potential customers entered, looking around curiously at what had been left strewn around.

By lunchtime, all but a few things had been bought and taken, prompting a near continual flow of more stock from upstairs being brought down. Space was beginning to appear upstairs, and one of the rooms had been completely emptied of all items except those they were keeping to themselves.  
A few people found items they thought lost, which Riku insisted they took back without cost. During a quiet moment, Roxas had suggested it was so that if they did find out about him, they'd have enough good memories of him to try to overlook it. Riku told him it was just generosity, though he wasn't denying Roxas had a point.  
Sora had woken up during the day, though had kept to himself mostly once he'd figured out what they were up to. He also lent Roxas a hand when it came to the maths sometimes, since Roxas confessed to being somewhat slower to handle it mentally.  
He also kept track of how much they'd earned through their clearance sale, or at least what he and Roxas earned. Riku seemed to be keeping his earnings separate, at least for now.  
True to tradition, the overcast skies dropped their rain, though the discovery of a box full of umbrellas not only proved to earn them a nice extra, but also gained a number of friends and favours. One glazier promised to stop by and replace the cracked glass windows once the rain let up in exchange for an umbrella and a couple of other trinkets, solving the problem at no extra cost to them.  
By the time they closed up for the evening, Sora added up what they'd earned. The results were far more than they'd expected, and they hadn't been putting the prices on anything all that high either.  
As they locked up and headed for home, Riku fell into step beside Roxas.  
"You're not going to try and ask me the same as you did Sora, are you?"  
"Of course not," Riku smiled. "Not yet, at least."  
"What's that meant to mean?"  
"Who knows, maybe I'll see if I can win you over? Another time though."  
"Oh great," Roxas teased. "Now I've got the twins _and _you to worry about."  
"Be nice," Riku murmured, stealing Sora's favourite line. "Have to admit though, that little idea of yours worked out nicely. I would never have thought of it."  
"It just made sense. We didn't want it, so why not sell it on to someone who does? Got us funds, and a few favours too."  
"I noticed. And we've still got a load left to go through as well."  
"At least some of the rooms are starting to look habitable."  
"After a lot of cleaning. Sora still up?"  
"Of course. And listening in, before you ask."  
"Well then, how about he minds the store for us tomorrow, and I'll see if I can get us some paint and cleaning supplies?"  
_So long as he doesn't pick pink for anywhere except his room, _Sora murmured. Roxas passed it on to Riku  
"Hey, nothing wrong with a bit of pink," he replied. "Not that I was going to, but still, don't write it off entirely. After all," he leaned in conspiratorially. "It does take a real man to wear pink."  
Riku winked, then veered off to wherever his home was. Roxas just shook his head, trying not to laugh.  
_You took that better than I would.  
_"I'm more open-minded than you are. Anyway, he and I talked about it before you woke up."  
_Oh? Say anything interesting?  
_"Not really. Nothing for you to worry about anyway."  
_Oh, really? That sounds just like the sort of thing Riku would say to try and put me off asking about it.  
_"I guess I'm picking up a few of his habits too."  
_Don't change the subject. What were you talking about?  
_"Why don't you ask him yourself tomorrow?" he answered, taking the short jump up to Sora's window, then into the room.  
_I don't know how you can do that,_ Sora muttered.  
"You're just too afraid to give it a try. You're more agile than you think you are."  
_Maybe. Or maybe I'm just more cautious than you. After all, I don't go round hitting people just because I don't like them.  
_"Hey, we agreed I wasn't going to do that anymore. At least not without reason."


	13. Admitting it

_Time to get up, sleepy-head.  
__Huh? Already?  
__Come on, Sora. It's my turn to laze around today. Besides, you're meant to be tending the store, remember?  
__Alright, alright... what are you, an alarm clock too?  
__No, just not one to let you oversleep when it's your day out.  
__Yeah, whatever. You realise it's before sunrise?  
__Yes. And?  
_Sora grumbled to himself. Just because Roxas got up early, didn't mean he had to as well.  
Once he decided he was ready to face the day, he stopped, thought for a moment, then opened the window and looked down. Seifer ran after Pence into their own hideout below.  
"Sod this," he muttered, closing it again. He wasn't going to use the window like Roxas did.  
Out of habit, he headed into the tunnels. At least it was slightly warmer in here compared to the chill in the early morning air.  
Along the way, he picked up one of the larger crates, disarming the trap inside and dismantling it. Several other traps went the same way, filling the crate fully. Riku might complain a little about this a little, but after Roxas' idea yesterday, he wanted an idea of his own to put past him.  
Kairi was waiting for him at the hideout with Xion, and a very large box leaning against one wall.  
"Something you want us to sell on for you?" he asked them as he approached.  
"Take three guesses at what's inside," Xion answered with a sly grin. Sora knew what that meant.  
"Gotcha. Lemme just unlock the door and you can deliver it."  
He left his crate by the door, then helped them heave the heavy box upstairs, then down the passageway, which was more troublesome. It was achieved without incident though, and the twins took over for him, taking it on to the mansion. Before he headed back up, he noted their continually tracking back and forth had left a clear route through the overgrown woods, though he decided at some point he was going to cut it back a bit. If nothing else, to stop the nettles from continually trying to catch at them.  
Once back in the hideout, it was only a few moments to put up the same set up Roxas had. The weather was clear today, so he extended it outside as well, put the sign back up, then took his chair outside with a small toolbox he'd found inside, and started to work on the crate of parts.  
As Riku was out looking for various supplies, he had been left to mind it all by himself. Kairi and Xion lent him a hand managing it. Before it got quiet, Sora waited until Xion was inside, leaving him with Kairi, then paused in his work to ask, "Riku told you too, didn't he?"  
"Yes," she answered, already knowing what he was talking about. "I guess he told you about it then."  
"Just the other night."  
"He was almost terrified of telling you, you know."  
"Yeah... well, Roxas told me he was a little afraid."  
"How do you feel about it?"  
"I dunno. I was kinda content having a crush on you."  
"Be honest, Sora. Now you know about this, how do you really feel about Riku?" When Sora didn't answer, she added, "Just forget that you're both boys for a moment if it helps."  
"It's kinda hard to just put that aside, Kairi. He's always been my best friend."  
"Then pretend for a moment you were the same as him."  
Sora tried to put himself in that position. It didn't come easy for him, and he felt increasingly awkward as he tried to put it into words – let alone get those words out.  
Kairi was watching him though, and saw his reactions and expressions as he worked through it. She joined him, putting an arm around him to show she understood.  
"It's just..."  
"Hard to say, right?" she finished for him.  
"I'd never even thought about it until he mentioned it."  
"And now you have, it's bothering you, right?" Sora nodded mutely. "Don't think it's a bad thing."  
"What about everyone else though? What will they say about it if Riku and I..."  
"It won't be easy. Before you got us back to normal again, Riku told us about some of the reactions he's seen. But people like both of you, even if you are getting in trouble all the time."  
"Actually... I was thinking that maybe it was time to give that up. Not because of this I mean. We've got the hideout, and the mansion beyond. Maybe we could put it to good use for others."  
"It'll go well for you then too. People will have one more reason to overlook it if it did come out."  
"I guess, but I dunno what we could do here. We've only got so much stuff here to sell, then what are we going to do?"  
"Talk to Riku about it," she suggested. "Between him and you two, you've got enough creativity to come up with a workable plan, and Xion and I will help if we can. You could mention how you feel about him at the same time."  
"Yeah, but what about Roxas?"  
"Roxas will know what you decide either way, but if you mean any relationships he has with others... well, just make sure he's aware of your own."  
"Imagine if Roxas went with someone who didn't know about me," Sora laughed as the idea came to him. "They'd be in for a bit of a surprise."  
"Is he listening?"  
"No, he's gone back to sleep again."  
"Well, mention that to him when he wakes up, will you? He ought to know."  
"I'll pass it on."  
Kairi nodded, then got up and headed back inside.  
He felt better for having talked about it with her. She accepted his feelings for her without a problem, which was unexpected.  
More unexpected was her reaction to the answer he hadn't even been able to say out loud. _That_ one bothered him still, and she'd seen it.  
Something to worry about later though. And talk with Roxas about, then Riku after. At least Roxas would be somewhat safer to mention it to.  
The timely arrival of the glazier from the day before took his mind entirely off the matter.

Sora felt Roxas wake up not long before lunchtime, and knew from his silence that he was probably glancing through Sora's memories to find out what he'd missed.  
Finally, he just said,_ Xion already knows about us. But Kairi's right – talk to Riku.  
__I wish you'd give me a little privacy, Roxas. Some of those memories might have been private.  
__Might not seem like it, but I do respect your privacy Sora. I'm not going to go telling anyone things you don't want them to hear.  
__Yeah, but what if I wanted to keep something from you?  
__Then just tell me. All you have to do is ask – so long as you don't mind me doing the same from time to time.  
_There wasn't much he could say to that. It was fair.  
_The twins delivered Setzer to the mansion earlier,_ Sora told him instead, handling another sale as he did so.  
_I know. I'm sure he won't mind waiting a bit though. When Riku turns up, ask him if he wants to enjoy some time as a cat again too. We can handle it at the same time if he does.  
__I've gotta talk to him first.  
__Don't rush it, Sora. I know what Kairi told you, but handle it in your own time.  
_Seemed like sound advice for now.  
"Hey, Sora!" Hayner's voice called to him, running across the common. "Gotta minute?"  
Sora held up on hand, then poked his head inside.  
"Can you two handle things without me for a few?"  
"Sure thing," Xion answered. "Don't be too long though, it'll get busy again soon."  
"I know. Thanks." he turned back and nodded, leading him away from their stalls. "So what trouble are you up to this time?"  
"Come on, Sora. Trouble? Me?" Seifer answered innocently, then laughed. "I feel like a kid again."  
"What do you mean, again? I don't even remember what you were like as a kid."  
"Probably just as well. I wasn't really all that different, actually."  
"So what's bothering you? Feeling a little homesick?"  
He shook his head. "Nah. I'm having too much fun for that, and Hayner's just making a pest of himself like I used to. I think I get why you and him kept banding together to annoy me now."  
"You do sorta have that habit of getting in the way of some good fun."  
"Not any more. He's the one doing that now. You know he told my gang about the mix up that got us like this?" he told Sora slyly.  
"Really? How did they take it?"  
"I wouldn't know, I wasn't there. Apparently, they believe him, but they also think I've got amnesia and that I'm convinced I'm really Hayner." He laughed again, then added, "I didn't mean to tell him that, but it just sort of came out like that."  
"It's called being spontaneous. What about Pence and Olette? Do they know yet?"  
"Pence knows. He's the reason you guys haven't heard from me for a bit, he's actually taking my side on it. Anyway, wanted to ask a favour off you."  
"I never thought I'd hear the day," Sora laughed.  
"I know, right? See if you can push Hayner into actually making an effort, will you? He hasn't done anything to bother me in the slightest yet, and if he's not going to do anything, I'm thinking of staying this way."  
"You know, if you don't mind losing that amnesia, I could tell him exactly what you just said. That'd spur him into doing something in no time."  
"It would, wouldn't it?" Seifer considered it, then with a broad grin, "Go on, tell him. I've gotta see his reaction to this."  
"I'll pass it on. You go ahead and enjoy yourself a bit more."  
"When do I ever do anything else?" he answered, looking and sounded almost perfectly like Hayner would have.

That evening, once Riku had closed up, he followed Sora, heading back up to the mansion first.  
_Can you teach me to work that thing?_ He asked Roxas. _I want to talk to Riku while we wait.  
__Doesn't he want to go back?  
__Did ask, but he said not yet. He likes having a pair of hands, I think he said.  
__I could point out what you need to do once you're there,_ Roxas countered.  
_I kinda wanted a little privacy, Roxas. That's why I asked.  
__Ah. I see._ Roxas briefly explained how to handle the controls twice, then had him recite it back to him to make sure he got it right.  
_Thanks Roxas.  
__No trouble. I'm going to give you your space and go to sleep now. Wake me in the morning if I'm not already up will you?  
__Sure thing.  
_Then the sense of Roxas' presence was gone, not completely, but enough to prove he was respecting his privacy.  
"You know," Riku said. "You could almost call this a date."  
"Oh, sure," Sora replied. "Because a lot of people go out to an old mansion to turn someone into a cat together."  
"I half expected you to react to me calling it a date, actually."  
"I almost did. It's kinda why I asked you along."  
"You mean you didn't just want to enjoy my company?"  
"Be nice," Sora murmured, pushing open the gates. They didn't bother to lock them any more, since they were the only ones who came down here. "I talked with Kairi this morning. She... told me a few of the things you told her."  
"Did it help at all?"  
"Honestly? I think it told me a few things about myself."  
"Like what?"  
"Like now I know about you, I can sort of see hints of it I never noticed before."  
"I thought you said things about you?"  
Sora let them into the pod room, noting the nearest pod was occupied.  
"Yeah, well, it sort of told me I don't think I actually mind those things," he told Riku, glancing behind for the numbers of the pods he'd need.  
"You're still awkward when it comes to talking about it though."  
"I think that's just because I'm still trying to come to terms with it. Not to mention this," he added.  
"Want a hand with it?" Riku asked, coming up behind him.  
"I can manage, Riku. I'd rather not make a mistake."  
"It's only Setzer."  
"Yeah, but we don't know what else could happen."  
"True." Riku moved aside, leaning against the wall nearby. "So what have you come up with so far? From that talk with Kairi, I mean."  
"I'm sort of torn. I mean... I've still got my interest in her. But after this morning, I can't say I don't have one for you too."  
"I'm amazed at you, Sora. You managed to say it without any problem."  
"Is that really so weird?"  
"Hey, even I couldn't do that. It's taken me this long to let you know how I felt, and I had no idea how you'd react to it. You don't know how hard that was for me."  
"Kairi mentioned something about it, actually. I think the word she used was 'terrified'."  
"Well, I was."  
"I can't really see you being afraid, Riku. You've never shown it before."  
"I'm good at hiding it."  
"I noticed." Sora checked the panel again, then added, "This says it's finished."  
They both looked to the smaller pod, now containing a silver-white cat. It seemed to wake up, not noticing anything unusual. Riku opened the pod and crouched nearby.  
"Well hello there Setzer," he murmured to the cat. "How do you like being a cat?"  
The cat stopped, looked itself over, then tried to jump out of the pod. Not being used to his new form, Setzer ended up falling out. Riku picked him up, then motioned for Sora to follow.  
"What should we do with him, I wonder?"  
"I was thinking, we can let him loose in town. Someone will take him in eventually."  
"You want to turn Setzer into a pet for someone?"  
"Why not? It'll keep him out the way. Who knows, maybe he'll get to like it. Speaking of liking..." Riku left it hanging.  
"I guess... we could try it," Sora answered shyly. "I'm sure I could find some space for you at my place..."

* * *

**A/N: **And that's where I'm going to leave it - for now. If anyone really wants to find out what happens to any of them after this, I might write more - but the original story is done now that Setzer's headed off for his new feline life.


End file.
